Gate: For Answered
by velvet queen
Summary: AU crossover in which a research team from Yanagida Industries discovers a strange building amidst the ruins of the reclaimed area of Tokyo and finds out that it is actually a gateway leading to a strange land filled with magic and beasts. How will that land react to the gigantic titans of steel and destruction? Crossover between Armored Core and Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here.
1. History

_Woo-hoo! My first fanfic! I have been wanting to do one for a while but I haven't got the inspiration until I noticed a couple of things. One, there are very few fics for Armored Core and Gate (Granted that the latter was only few since it is still few months old but it is still too low for my tastes.) Now the first chapter will be about the history first and I will be posting the next one once I have enough ideas. Since this is an AU Crossover, plenty of things will be changed in my story like making Itami a little bit younger as well as changing the positions of certain characters. Since the Gate has opened into the Armored Core Universe, you can expect the Empire to get its ass whupped_ _ **VERY HARD.**_ _I also added a few extra things to the Armored Core part of my story like hacking and such. If you have any questions then please just add them to the review and I will answer it shortly as much as I can. Please refrain from using the PM for a while since I am still trying to rearrange something there first._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core and Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except perhaps my own ocs._

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 ***History***

 **August 30 2183** \- ORCA began initiating the Closed Plan in which its objective was to destroy the thousands of orbiting Assault Cell satellites which are preventing humanity from expanding into space by using the Ehrenberg Anti-Satellite Cannons. However to use them, they would have to divert the energy from the Arteria facilities powering the Cradles meaning that to use the cannons ORCA would have to sacrifice millions of people in order to ensure humanity's survival. To prevent them from executing their plan, The League sent Wynne D. Fanchon, pilot of the NEXT Reiterpallasch, Roy Saaland, pilot of the NEXT My Bliss and Lilium Wolcott, pilot of the NEXT Ambient to stop ORCA from accomplishing its goals. Leading the defense against the League are Maximilian Thermidor, pilot of the NEXT Otsdarva, Setsuna Youji, Pilot of the NEXT Amaterasu, Old King, pilot of the NEXT Lisa and Luna Arclighter, a defector from the League's forces and pilot of the NEXT Joyeuse.

During the attack, Old King and Luna suddenly betrayed Thermidor and Setsuna and revealed to both the remaining ORCA members and the NEXT pilots currently aligned with the League that Luna is currently uploading a very strong virus into the computer networks controlling the Assault Cells which once the virus has completely spread and taken control, it will then forcefully command and direct all of the active Assault Cells to fire on every Cradle housing mankind which will ensure a devastatingly horrifying mass genocide of immeasurable scale as well as the ensured extinction of mankind. To ensure that their plans won't be easily stopped, Old King and Luna activated the bombs that they secretly planted inside the Cannons' batteries, destroying the Cannons and preventing them from being used to destroy the Assault Cells that will slaughter countless innocent civilians. Otsdarva and Amaterasu as well as Reiterpallasch, My Bliss and Ambient quickly made a temporary alliance on the spot in order to stop the two genocidal maniacs however Luna and Old King were prepared as during the time Luna was still working at the League's side and even after she defected to ORCA's side, she secretly uploaded one of her special viruses into Roy, Wynne and Thermidor's NEXTs during some of the times the three worked some jobs together with her and the viruses she had uploaded had been laying dormant within their NEXTs ever since until the moment she needed to activated them and in that moment, she did. Luna's viruses activated and instantly stolen and transferred the controls of Otsdarva, Reiterpallasch and My Bliss towards Luna, bringing them helplessly under the control of the two dangerous traitors and leaving the remaining NEXTs, Amaterasu and Ambient, hopelessly outnumbered. Luckily with the help of Kasumi Sumika who managed to swiftly hack into Otsdarva, Reiterpallasch and My Bliss albeit with difficulty and only after Ambient and Amaterasu managed to significantly damage them enough, Amaterasu and Ambient managed to eventually defeat Luna and Old King, destroying Luna's NEXT Joyeuse and preventing the complete transmission of Luna's virus from spreading to the majority of the Assault Cells which in extension, saved the majority of the Cradles from destruction as well as killing Luna in the process although at a great cause as Old King managed to escape and some of the Assault Cells still managed to fire and destroy a couple of the Cradles, killing at least 40 million civilians in the ensuring destruction. On that day, both ORCA and the League issued a temporary ceasefire in order to completely assess the tremendous damage caused as well as the huge amount of lives lost to the senseless genocide caused by Old King and his now deceased accomplice. Old King has been declared a war criminal by both sides and both issued a direct 'kill on sight' order to all forces regarding the omnicidal maniac who is now currently on the run.

 **August 31 2183** \- Major riots and vandalism sparked out within the civilian populace immediately after the destruction of two Cradles by the Assault Cells. The public opinion completely turns against the ruling corporations after the mournful event. Between the millions who died and the fact that the pollution from the surface is slowly worsening and will eventually approach the Cradle's location within a single lifetime, the public angrily demands the corporations to take immediate swift action on the problem. Public opinion on ORCA gains a significant rise after many began agreeing with ORCA's goals despite its methods and reputations and even some think that their methods maybe necessary to ensure humanity's survival. Some of the small corporations that were secretly supporting ORCA suddenly declared their open support to the organization in order to take advantage of the situation.

 **September 2 2183** \- After a few days of resistance, the League finally gave in to the demands of the public after events were slowly starting to devolve into total anarchy. The League and ORCA formally signed a truce in which the League formally recognizes ORCA as an official organization in which Thermidor assumes leadership. The League also promised to destroying every Assault Cell they have in orbit as well as expanding their research onto space travel and terraformation technology to enable mankind to travel to the moon and Mars and colonize it. The Cradles and several hundred Arms forts are now being upgraded to be capable of space travel.

 **September 4 2183 -** The League directed their Assault Cells to fire on each other until only a handful were left before the League directed them to self-destruct. Space is once more safe for travel.

 **September 21 2183** \- The Kojima Drive Engine was finally developed which will enable the Cradles and Arms Forts to easily travel to the stars and the new invention was swiftly installed into the ships.

 **September 23 2183 -** The liberation begins and thousands of ships were finally able to break through earth's atmosphere and began leaving towards the moon and Mars where the plans to develop a colony by constructing special environmental domes where mankind could live in place. Each dome is capable of housing a population of 30 million people.

 **October 25 2183 -** The first fleet managed to arrive to the moon and begins plans for terraforming and construction of colonies. The remaining fleet continued on towards Mars.

 **November 28 2183** \- The construction of the Moon colony's domes are complete. The creation of a functional government was next in step and both the League and ORCA helped in the establishment.

 **December 3 2183** \- Setsuna Youji and Kasumi Sumika both announced their engagement to one another, stating that they are planning to get married on December 25, a special date once known as Christmas in the past. Both Thermidor and ORCA as well as some of Setsuna's closest friends and fellow LYNXs like Takafumi Arisawa, May Greenfield and Shiro Kamui, pilot of the famous NEXT White Glint congratulate the two on their engagement.

 **December 24 2183** \- The last migrant fleet managed to arrive on Mars. The terraforming and construction of the environmental domes that will house the colony begins.

 **December 25 2183** \- Setsuna Youji and Kasumi Sumika got married to each other inside one of the makeshift cathedrals on the moon colony and various important figures attended the ceremony which included Thermidor, several representatives from the League and several of Setsuna and Kasumi's closest friends and relatives however, the ceremony got interrupted after Old King unexpectedly crashes into the party and begins wrecking havoc in the colony. Setsuna quickly jumps into his NEXT Amaterasu and is followed by Thermidor and several other LYNXs present in the ceremony. Old King's NEXT Lisa was seemingly alone in its rampage and it would seem easy to subdue and destroy him however Kasumi managed to pick up high levels of Kojima Particles radiating from Old King's NEXT and she discovered that Lisa was actually armed with a highly lethal bomb that should Old King's NEXT be destroyed, it will unleash a deadly spread of highly contaminating Kojima Particles into the environmental dome, poisoning everyone inside and inflicting a massive genocide that will almost rival the Cradles' fall in casualties. Luckily, Setsuna managed to safely disarm the highly dangerous NEXT with help from Thermidor, Takafumi and Kasumi. However upon opening Lisa's cockpit, they discovered that Old King wasn't actually in there and it was just being remotely controlled from somewhere within the colony's base. Security was raised and Kasumi tried tracking the signal's origin but unfortunately, Old King escaped once again.

 **January 27 2183** \- The Mars colony's construction is complete. Establishment of the government's constitution begins as well. The League sends several probes into the nearby asteroid field as well as to the moons of the outer gas planets to search for minerals to be used for the colonies' benefit. A new company named Yanagida Industries was established.

 **March 30 2183** \- Yanagida Industries discovers a counter-agent to Kojima Particles that can eradicate it at an atomic level. This discovery of Yanagida Industries practically revolutionized the industry as the League and ORCA won't have to worry much about the extreme pollution their NEXTs will generate. To avoid falling back in discovery, the other corporations began to research various ways on how to improve Kojima and NEXT technology.

 **May 2 2183** \- The League announces its plans to begin cleaning earth of its heavy pollution in order to reclaim it once more for mankind. The League however states that such a process may take time before the planet is completely recovered. Thermidor and ORCA voices their complete support of the League's plan.

 **June 26 2183** \- Yanagida Industries begins developing all kinds of strange weapons like chainswords, TESLA cannons and flamethrowers which the latter were previously deemed ineffective. However with the improved designs and mechanics developed by Yanagida Industries' best scientists and developers, they were actually able to improve the lethal effectiveness of the flamethrower by using an advance form of super heated plasma instead of regular fuel induced flames which enables it to eat through an enemy NEXT's shields with ease. When the CEO of Yanagida Industries, Shinichi Yanagida was asked about why are they developing and improving such strange kinds of weaponry, he simply tilts his glasses and said "Why not?"

 **December 2 2183 -** Setsuna and Kasumi finally had a son whom Setsuna named Itami after his own father.

 **February 15 2184 -** Recent developments on medical improvements by the League's scientists and researchers saw the eradication of several diseases that have long plagued mankind since the dawn of time. Humanity's life expectancy increases exponentially.

 **November 21 2184** \- Improvements on NEXT and AMS technology allows the restrictions of being a NEXT pilot to be significantly reduced which in turn increases the ranks of the LYNXs the League and ORCA both currently have under their employ.

 **April 18 2185** \- With military operations laying low and no jobs of violence or sabotage available to curb the boredom of some combat hungry LYNXs who have been heavily deprived of conflict ever since the battle between the League and ORCA ended, Thermidor and the League decided to create a yearly NEXT combat championship tournament which will pit off several of ORCA and the League's best LYNXs against each other in a friendly battle for supremacy. Millions of tickets were sold and the League managed to create a large amount of profit from the sales as well as merchandise. The NEXTs' military functions still remain in case hostilities between the League and ORCA ever resume again. The first champion of the tournament was a female LYNX pilot from ORCA who piloted a NEXT called Guilty Spark.

 **Feb 26 2189** \- At least 10.54 percent of the planet has been cleaned of radiation.

 **April 18 2191** \- Hostilities in the 7th Annual NEXT championship tournament have occurred after the victor of the tournament, a male LYNX piloting a NEXT named Tezcatlipoca was accused of cheating by secretly hacking into his opponent's NEXT. Evidence of cheating was found and Tezcatlipoca's victory was declared null and void with the trophy being awarded instead to the second runner up, an ORCA LYNX piloting a NEXT named Yatogami.

 **July 27 2194 -** Omer Science and Algebra managed to vastly improve and develop the flight capabilities of NEXTs, enabling them to stay up in the air for as much as 35% longer and reaching maximum speeds in less than 15% of the original time.

 **June 5 2196 -** At least 21.96 percent of the planet has been cleaned of radiation.

 **January 13 2199 -** Old King was finally discovered hiding in one of the reclaimed areas of earth underneath an old military bunker that was once used by the League. A special task force was immediately set up to hunt down the dangerous fugitive and it consists of several top class NEXT pilots which even included the likes of Shiro Kamui, pilot of the legendary NEXT White Glint and even Setsuna Youji himself who, despite their age, are still at the top of their game. During the assault on Old King's hideout however, a couple of task force members have lost their lives due to some traps Old King has placed in his hideout while a third lost her life due to an unexpected drone ambush that Old King has set up. When the real fight against Old King began the Task Force found out that even with his age and the fact that he was outnumbered greatly, Old King was still more than a simple match to them as the dangerous LYNX pilot managed to kill one of the task force members in the fight and even disabled a couple more before White Glint and then Amaterasu managed to stop him by cutting off his arms, damaging his shoulder weapons and disabling his boosters with a well placed sniper shot. Once Old King's NEXT was finally critically damaged, Setsuna delivered the coup de grace by burying Amaterasu's MOONLIGHT blade directly into Lisa's cockpit, killing Old King and finally avenging the deaths he caused in his senseless acts of genocide.

 **August 19 2205** \- At least 31.13 percent of the planet has been cleaned of radiation. The League and ORCA has began sending research teams to assess the planet's living condition and found out that some of the cleared areas can now fully support a sizeable population again.

 **November 20 2205 -** After some careful considerations and planning, The League and ORCA have allowed a certain number of people to return to earth again after the Moon colony is showing signs of a very strong population growth.

 **May 6 2207 -** Scientists, researchers and archeologists from both the League and ORCA began excavating the ruins of 21st century civilization located in some of the areas reclaimed from the pollution like the former United States, China, Russia and Germany.

 **January 11 2210** \- Large areas of land are now being reclaimed and it includes countries such as Brazil and France.

 **October 17 2210 -** Shinichi Yanagida decides to retire from his position as CEO of Yanagida Industries due to his growing health complications. He was succeeded by his son, Akira Yanagida, as CEO of the company.

 **January 2 2212** \- Japan is reclaimed.

 **February 13 2212** \- A very large research team from Yanagida Industries is sent to Japan to excavate the ruins of what is formerly known as its capital city, Tokyo. Accompanying the research team are a dozen normals as well as a couple NEXTS who will be serving as the research team's security where they will set up a base near its former capital district.

 **March 26 2212 -** The research team discovered a strange building amidst the ruins in an area of Tokyo that according to the history files, was once known as its Ginza district. The building is strange because its architecture more closely matches the ruins located in the reclaimed areas of Greece and Rome instead of the ruined buildings in Japan. In addition to that, the research team has discovered strange energy fluctuations happening around the ruins. Sensing that something is amidst, the research team set up a dozen guards near the ruins before they contact the CEO of the company about the discovery that they have made.


	2. Visitors from the Gate

_Alright and I'm back again! Boo-yah! Here is the first proper chapter of Gate: For Answered guys! I hope that my writing will be good enough for you. Anyway in addition to this chapter, I will be adding an encyclopedia of sorts at the bottom of every chapter that will be about various information from the universe like people, NEXTs, creatures, locations, technology and more. As of now it will be only a couple but as the chapters progress, the entries will start getting bigger and bigger. I'll be posting again soon once I have another bunch of ideas floating in my brain and if guys got any ideas for me that you want to see in my story then please state so at the reviews. Hope you guys leave plenty of reviews for me._

 _Special Thanks to KisaragiKei and alexkehling for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF fought Here._

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 ***** 1st Episode: Visitors from the Gate*****

 _Itami Youji, 28. A LYNX pilot with above average skills whose accepted himself and by others as a proud otaku. Though he is the son of two of history's well known LYNX pilots, he is much more interested in his trivial hobbies then with following in his parent's footsteps. He once boasts "I only work to support my hobby you know. So if you ask me which I choose, my job or my hobby, my hobby takes priority."_

 *****March 27 2212, 11:30 AM*****

A heavy storm was brewing in the skies over the high rise buildings of a heavily industrialized city when a thunderous sound suddenly echoed throughout the city. However, the thunderous sound did not came from the storm but instead from the terrifyingly large, 50 foot tall green tyrannosaur like lizard lumbering throughout the streets. Its predatory eyes were hateful and full of rage as it raised its head up a little, took a deep breath and unleashed a devastatingly powerful beam of nuclear energy from its mouth, vaporizing the streets and buildings that got caught in its beam's path. Deadly fires and smoke broke out in the various paths of the city as the dinosaur like creature gave out a primal roar of satisfaction at the destruction it caused.

When suddenly, heroic entrance like music started playing in the background and the monstrous lizard turned its head up towards the sky and caught what seemed to be a faint twinkle in its eye before the object landed behind the gigantic beast, causing a very strong shockwave as well as breaking the ground beneath where it landed and creating a very sizable crater.

The dust settles and the object was revealed to be a very heroically designed blue and silver colored NEXT that's currently in a crouching position, its fist buried on the broken earth before it pulls it away and begins straightening itself up.

Itami Youji smirked from within the cockpit of his NEXT as he made it strike a pose and give a 'bring it on' gesture towards the gigantic lizard. The beast roared in response before firing a another devastating beam of radiation from its mouth to which Itami easily dodged with the superior speed and agility of his NEXT.

The missile pods on the shoulders of Itami's NEXT opened their hatches and Itami unleashed a tremendous barrage of missiles at the beast, peppering its tough hide with multiple explosions before firing his cannons at several parts of the monster's body.

The beast got enraged and it tried to swing its gigantic tail at its opponent but Itami quickly predicted its actions and he used the boosters of his NEXT to jump out of the way.

Itami smirked again as he brought out his NEXT's Laser sniper and began aiming for the one obvious weakpoint of the creature.

Its eyes.

However moments before Itami's NEXT could lock on to its target, its entire body suddenly froze and became stiff before a strange message popped up on his screen which blocked and ruined his view of the monster's weakpoint.

"Ah... huh?" Itami blurted out in surprise as the message displayed in front of him reads 'INCOMING MESSAGE! INCOMING MESSAGE!'

"What?! Not now!"

During that moment, the monster finally got itself up together and instantly focused all of its attention on the mech that attacked it.

With a reptilian equivalent of a sneer, the humongous lizard lifted its large scaly foot above the immobile NEXT.

"Oh no, no, no, nononoNONONO!" Itami screamed as the gigantic lizard brought its foot down upon him, squashing him down flat like a bug. As an act of spite, the beast even grinded its foot down upon him.

 *****Back to reality*****

Itami woke up in a shock before he noticed that a new message was blaring in the screen of his NEXT Kagerou. He sighed in annoyance and disappointment as the dream he got was just getting good before that message just has to wake him up and ruin it all for him.

He answered the message and a new screen popped open, displaying the angry face of a middle aged man with short blonde hair and brown eyes.

"Hey Itami! Stop dozing around there! We are not getting paid by these eggheads just to sleep you know?!" Itami's superior Solomon Scheinder barked

"I know, I know. I apologized. It won't happen again sir."

"It better be or else I will force you to clean every part of these ruins with a toothbrush!" Solomon barked before his screen zoomed out and another new screen suddenly replaced it. The person in the screen, a grinning young man with short spiky red hair and fiery brown eyes, tried to cheer up Itami's mood.

"Don't listen to that old fossil bro. He is just like that to everybody here in the research site." Itami's fellow LYNX pilot Takeru Tachibana chuckled

"I know that. Its just that I'm quite frustrated that I will be missing another important sale of my favorite doujin back at the base." Itami grumbled

Takeru raised his eyes "You mean the latest edition of Super Highschool Robot Pilots?"

"Yeah! How did you know that?" Itami asked

Takeru grinned widely "Come on bro. It is the only one that's on limited sale this week. Besides, I know how a fellow otaku's mind works."

"Yeah, you're right. Man, I just wish that real life was just like in the doujin I read. Can you imagine? Fighting alien invaders, giant monsters and all sorts of dangerous folk in a giant robot while you are still busy attending to school?"

Takeru nodded "I totally agree with you bro. The reason why I even became a LYNX is because I want to become like those Gurren Lagaan guys in which I could always kick butt and save the world on numerous occasions. Unfortunately, real life is a bitch and with the war between the League and ORCA already ended plenty of years ago, we LYNXs are now just limited to between being corporate advertisement athletes and glorified security guards."

"A big disappointment for you huh?" Itami asked

"Indeed." Takeru agreed before he began switching the subject "Well that's enough about that anyway. Hey, have you watched the latest episode of Attack on Titan where the lead character got-"

"Hey man! Spoilers there! I haven't even watched it yet!"

Takeru smirked "Don't tell me you are squeamish about it or something."

"I'm not!" Itami denied "I just want to know the episode on my own experience. Besides, you're even more squeamish than me at some times."

Takeru rolled his eyes "Please, I'm more tougher than you can ever be."

"Fine. Prove it." Itami said

Takeru snickered "Okay. If you say so. Last night I watched episode 21 of Clannad After Story."

"So?"

"And I didn't even cry at it."

Itami's eyes grew wide "You're a monster!"

"And proud of it!" Takeru laughed when another message suddenly message popped up on Itami's screen right next Takeru's image displaying only one, entire capitalized word on it.

'EMERGENCY!'

"Hey Takeru! You got that message too?" Itami asked

"Yeah! My NEXT just received this message too. What does this mean Itami? Who the hell wants to even attack us?" Takeru wondered

"I don't know but the emergency is being broadcast near the area where we discovered that building and-"

A deep roar suddenly echoed around them and both Itami and Takeru turned the sights of their NEXT towards the sky above and saw what they presume to be a creatures of absurd existence flying towards them.

"...Itami?"

"Yeah?" Itami replied

"Are those dragons?" Takeru asks

"...Yeah. I think so."

"And are those people riding on top of them?" Takeru adds

"I think I fell asleep again here."

To prove that this wasn't a dream, the group of dragons flying towards them suddenly fired a crimson ball of flames towards the duo of NEXTs, firing them in a tremendous volley.

"Scatter!" Itami shouted towards Takeru through the comms and both LYNXs quickly steered their NEXTs out of the direction of the volley of flames.

The dragons and their riders quickly decide to give chase towards the two through the research site, setting things on fire and causing major amounts of damage to the ruins as well as to the temporary buildings that the research team has set up.

While the two LYNXs are sliding in between the fireballs launched at them, Takeru slowly became annoyed at the dragons' persistence and he quickly decide to flip the tables at their opponents instead.

The missile hatches on Takeru's NEXT Amatsu opened and Takeru launched a devastating volley of missiles at the dragons harassing them. Caught off guard, the dragons and their riders tried to maneuver away though their actions have been futile as the missiles Takeru launched detonated in a simultaneous explosion which blew up the entire group into bloody chunks and pieces.

"What the hell were those? Are those things really dragons? What the fuck?! Come on those things can't possibly exist in reality! What the hell is happening here?!" Takeru ranted

"I don't know but we are still getting multiple calls of emergency from all over the Ginza site. We have to work fast cause I think there might be more of them."

"You think?" Takeru sarcastically muttered before the two LYNXs hastily dashed towards the nearest emergency call. On their way there, they encountered a group of guards opening fire at a group of hostiles to Itami's wonder and bafflement were wearing ancient Roman-like armor and were wielding swords, shields and spears out of all things.

"What the hell?!" Takeru exclaimed "Whose the commander of these mooks? Julius Caesar?"

The hostiles were attempting to advance towards the guards by placing their shields around them in some kind of tortoise formation. However the sheer heat of the plasma fired upon them by the guards' plasma assault rifles easily melted through their shields like a hot knife through butter and many were easily being picked off but the sheer number of the hostiles ensures that some of them will at least manage to reach some of the highly outnumbered guards.

"Let's give them a hand shall we?" Itami asked

"With pleasure!" Takeru replied as both he and Itami opened the missile hatches on their shoulders and fired a devastating volley at the enemy forces, scattering them apart both figuratively and literally.

 *****Meanwhile*****

"No! This can't be right! How in the world are our forces are being routed in just a single day! This doesn't make any sense!" The Empire's general of the invasion army, Gaius snarled as he and his men swiftly dashed around in horseback through the ruins of a city they previously assume would be easy for an invasion due to its currently wrecked status.

"Milord!" Gaius' second in command Quintus spoke out "I have been hearing some strange things and rumors from the dragon rider scouts that are flying around the battlefield about terrifying metal giants wrecking havoc among our troops! I do not know if these were simply some miscommunications or-"

"Oh shut it!" Gaius snorted "I bet it was just some sort of armored ogre they might have mistaken it for! And even those things can be killed if you could just shoot enough arrows into it!"

"But Milord!" Quintus protested "The size descriptions the scouts gave out were too large to be for a simple ogre. In fact, the size they gave out was gigantic and-"

"Oh just shut up!" Gaius snapped "We are the Empire's mightiest warriors! Nothing can stand in our way and there is no foe that we can't best! And as for that stupid rumor about metal giants, let me tell you that such things don't even exi-"

Gaius never managed to finish his sentence as from out of nowhere, a gigantic titan of steel suddenly dropped right out of the sky and landed directly in front of their path, flattening some of the soldiers that unluckily got caught in its path with its huge metallic feet including General Gaius.

Quintus was horrified as well as the remaining soldiers that are still alive with him as the crimson colored giant of steel lifted its foot and seemingly stared at it with its single green visor like eye.

 _"Ew. I think I stepped on something nasty."_ The crimson colored giant grumbled in a somewhat feminine like voice as though the bloody smear on the sole of its foot has actually inconvenienced it.

"Battle formations! Archers get yourselves ready! Everyone else get your swords!" Quintus quickly commanded and his archers began nocking their bows while the rest drew out their swords.

A entire volley of arrows was fired at the metallic giant and to Quintus' horror not only did the arrows simply bounced off the thing's skin, the giant even placed its hand near its face in a sort of yawning gesture.

 _"You done yet?"_ The metal giant asked as Quintus and his men slowly began backing away in fear and even outright terror. " _Well if you dorks are done then I guess it is my turn then!_ "

The crimson giant seemingly drew and pointed something at them. The object seemed long with a tip that ends in a hole kinda like a flute though it seemed thicker and with the picture of a dragon's head tattooed onto the tip.

 _"Let's test the theory that everything burns shall we?"_ The crimson giant cackled with sadistic glee and before Quintus could react, a large torrent of thick, white hot flames burst forth from the weapon the metal giant is holding like the breath of a fearsome dragon, swiftly consuming everything within the reach of its brutal flames.

Inside the cockpit of the crimson colored NEXT known as Kagutsuchi, its pilot was grinning madly from ear to ear as she watched the bodies of her victims burn quickly into ashes from the flames generated by her flamethrower, the latest model developed by Yanagida Industries.

 _"Ah yes... I love the smell of burnt flesh in the morning. It's so refreshing!"_

 *****OXOXO*****

Eventually, the majority of the invaders were slaughtered by the sheer amount of firepower that the security forces possessed and even when they are outnumbered 5 to 1, the enemy forces never really stood a chance against the NEXTs and Normal ACs the security team had at their disposal. The remaining enemy forces retreated back into the Gate from which they came from and the security forces quickly set up an even stronger defensive perimeter at the Gate, adding hundreds of normal ACs as well as regular soldiers to the Gate to permanently station it. The additional soldiers and ACs the security force received came from both the League and ORCA after they quickly heard of what happened. Since Yanagida Industries cannot provide all of the securities itself due to the massive costs it will occur, they are forced to ask for assistance from both of the groups and in exchange, the two organizations want to have a say in the operations in which Yanagida Industries reluctantly accept due to having no other choices. Thousands of bodies were recovered from the Ginza area, most of them from the invaders and even consists of creatures that were absolutely too absurd to even exist like pig men and other strangely colored humanoids. Nonetheless, many of the League and ORCA's biologists and anthropologists were actually very excited at the thought of examining the corpses of these creatures. However, it was not a complete victory as over hundreds of innocent civilians and non combatants have still been killed and many more missing which both League and ORCA intelligence suspected may have been carted off by the invaders through the other side of the Gate.

Three days of mourning were given for the ones who died during the unexpected attack but once that is done, many people started proclaiming that the League and ORCA must do something about the attack and arrest those that have provoked it in the first place. The families and friends of the people who were kidnapped agreed with and fully supports any plan that the two organizations will do that will give them the chance to see their loved ones again. Many LYNXs were also in support especially the battle hungry ones who hadn't participate in a decent war for years now. The ones who oppose a violent retaliation against the attackers were a very small minority and they were quickly silenced by the majority.

The League and ORCA swiftly decided to hold a meeting with each other along with Yanagida Industries and some of the lesser corporations. It took 2 entire weeks of careful debates, planning, assessment, name calling, blackmail and chair throwing (you can be surprised how many chairs they have thrown at each other's faces) until finally they have both reached a decision.

Both the League and ORCA will sent a joint task force together to retrieve their kidnapped citizens and to subjugate any hostile that got in their way.

 *****End Of Episode*****

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 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **Yanagida Industries -** A corporation established during 2183 at the Mars colony and founded by the famed intellectual and businessman Shinichi Yanagida. During its early years Yanagida Industries became very ambitious with its goals, striving to outdo the other corporations when it comes to success. Yanagida Industries was the one who discovered the famed counter-agent to Kojima Particles which earned them a huge amount of success from both the public and the military as well the grudge of some of the lesser corporations who were envious of Yanagida Industries' success.

Yanagida Industries was also famous for the strange weapons it has developed like the Dragon's Breath flamethrower and the MURASAME chainsword both of which have a certain following of customers due to the sheer brutality they inflict despite their impracticality. As of now, Yanagida Industries' current CEO is Chairman Akira Yanagida who has succeeded his father in the position during the year 2210.

 **The Ginza Incident** \- The Ginza Incident was the result of an unprecedented attack by the Empire's forces (which was an unknown force at that time) against the research team stationed in Japan's former Ginza district. Though majority of the Empire's army were easily slaughtered by the security force stationed in the area, many people were still killed and many more captured and taken through the other side of the Gate. However this attack had caused the League and ORCA to retaliate by temporarily joining forces together in order to sent a joint task force into the Gate with the goal of rescuing captured civilians, subduing the enemy's forces and, albeit unintentionally and unknowingly at that time, conquer any territory they came upon to in order to utilize the resources that they possess.


	3. The Beginning of a War

_Woo-hoo! Time for another new chapter! Wow, I'm really on the roll here on making new chapters almost everyday in a row. Hopefully this streak of mine continues cause I really enjoyed righting this story._

 _Special Thanks to Lone Gundam and alexkehling for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

* * *

 ***** 2nd Episode: The Beginning of a War *****

Thousands of men and ACs have gathered together on this special day, standing neatly in straight, proper rows as Thermidor stepped up to the podium in order to give a inspirational and heartfelt speech to the men who today, will be traveling through a gateway that will lead them into some kind of unknown, distant land. Flanking him were two of mankind's famous and well known NEXT pilots, Shiro Kamui and Setsuna Youji as Thermidor begins to make his address which will be broadcasted live in real time to every communications channel in both earth and mankind's colonies in the moon and Mars.

Itami watched from inside the cockpit of his NEXT Kagerou, his screen displaying Thermidor eloquently delivering his speech when Takeru suddenly popped up on Itami's screen.

"Seems we will finally be going to a war then?" Takeru grins widely "What kind of enemies do you think we will be encountering on the other side?"

"I don't know but I think that it will be something similar to the enemies we faced during the Ginza Incident." Itami replied and then another person popped up on his screen which pushed Takeru's video feed to the side.

"If that's so, then it will be easy for us slaughter the whole lot of them down before we burn their homes and corpses to the ground!" A woman with fiery shoulder length red hair and crimson eyes, Kagari Vermillions, pilot of the crimson colored NEXT Kagutsuchi cackled with sadistic glee as dark thoughts filled with wanton slaughter began filling up her sick, twisted mind.

Itami shuddered in both disgust and disturbance at the woman's behavior. Even though he knows that as a NEXT pilot he will have to kill many people on the battlefield, he will never engage in any unnecessary carnage and violence, especially when its against innocent civilians. From what he heard of Kagari, it is said that she would have rivaled Algebra's dreaded Femme-Arachnid LYNX pilot Shamir RaviRavi when it comes to being crazy and bloodthirsty on the battlefield. Thankfully, Shamir has long been deceased ever since she and her partner Do Su were killed by Itami's father Setsuna with assistance from Takafumi Arisawa and May Greenfield. However, that still doesn't make Itami any less unnerved by the unsettling joy Kagari displays at the thought of slaughtering somebody.

"We are not crazed psychos like you Vermillions." Takeru snarled at her through the comms "We don't take pride nor joy in the kind of sick violence you indulge yourself in."

"It's because you don't know what you are missing!" Kagari chuckles "The screams they give out while their bodies burn, the smell of cooked flesh..."

"Vermillions! That's enough!" A new voice suddenly barked out as a new feed popped out on Itami's screen, displaying the angry face of a middle aged man with blonde hair and brown eyes. "If you do not behave this instant then I will force you to stay behind here so that you will miss out on the entire operation!"

Kagari rolled her eyes before she grumbled "Fine. Whatever... dickhead."

Kagari zoomed out and Solomon Scheinder sighed before he apologized to Itami for his subordinate's behavior after which he ended his transmission as well.

Itami and Takeru exhaled in relief before they noticed that they missed the majority of Thermidor's speech and that its about to approach it ending right now.

"...and what should our answer to this atrocity should be? Vengeance? Blood? War? No. Our answer to them shall be justice! Not retribution but justice!" Thermidor exclaimed and the air was instantly filled with the sounds of cheers and cries of affirmation.

 _Justice huh? Is this what it's all about?_ Itami wondered as hundreds of Normal ACs went in through the Gate first followed by a large group of NEXTs and finally a large battalion of DRAGOON APCs.

 *****Imperial Capital*****

In the Imperial Senate building, every person was in uproar. Ever since the Imperial Army returned from its expedition to the other side of the Gate with only 25 percent of its original men remaining, the entire Senate was basically thrown into turmoil especially after hearing the rumors about the enemy forces the Imperial army has encountered in which they possess a strange kind of destructive magic that allows them to easily overwhelm the Imperial army and that they are assisted by towering giants whose skin are basically made out of steel and can even practically fly. The absurdity of the rumors never failed to make most of the members of the senate to become practically skeptical with the survivors' claims.

"It was a very major embarrasment your majesty!" Marquess Casel stated to Emperor Molt, the current ruler of the Empire, and the entire Senate.

"We instantly lost 75% of the Empire's military. What would you have us do? How would you guide the state?" Casel asks

The emperor sighed "Marquess Casel, think about how the people must feel."

The entire senate anticipated before Emperor Molt continues with his words.

"It is true that our latest losses have cost us our military advantage. The people worry that the vassals of our state and others may revolt and attack the Imperial Capital itself. How pathetic."

Marquess Casel's eyes grew in surprise at the emperor's remark.

"Everytime our empire is in danger, the Emperor, the senate and the people can be one to confront the danger and bring about even more progress. No war is won without some lost. Therefore I will not hold anyone responsible for our recent losses." Emperor Molt declared "To think that another nation dares surround the Imperial City... I trust that none of you will waste no time in court."

Whispers and murmurs were passed between the entire senate while Marquess Casel turns his glance away, muttering "To pass over all responsibility..."

"But what shall we do?" An elderly senator asked as he slowly walks to Casel, a walking cane in hand "The army we sent was defeated in just two days. And now the Gate has been captured and there have been reports of the enemy attempting to set up a base on this side with fresh reinforcements from their side coming through the Gate at every hour. Of course we attempted to take Alnus Hill back as well but the enemies in the distance... I have never seen such sorcery."

"We ought to fight them!" Another senator declared "If we do not have enough men then we only need to recruit them from the tributaries! Attack the other side of the Gate once more!"

"What good will brute force do?!" Another senator shouted

"It will be another Godasen!"

"Yeah!"

"Fight them!"

Shouting and bickering erupted once more in the senate but before it can get any worse, Emperor Molt slowly began raising his hand which the senate noticed and the air was quickly filled with silence once more.

"I do not wish to sit idly by." The Emperor said "Therefore we must fight."

Gasps of shock were heard from many of the senators.

"Send delegates to our tributaries and neighboring states." Emperor Molt commanded "Ask for help in defending the continent from these men from another world and we will lead the Allied Army of Godu Rino Gwaban in an attack on Alnus Hill!"

The senate building was filled with the sounds of cheers and claps as the emperor's words have filled them once more with a new source of morale.

"For Emperor Molt!"

"Glory to the Empire!"

Marquess Casel slowly walked towards the emperor, his head facing the ground as he darkly said "Your Majesty, it will be a bloodbath."

The emperor smirked smugly and said "I know."

 *****A few days later*****

On a cliff overlooking a large area, a man on horseback wearing a heavy suit of armor can be seen staring at the horizon when a soldier on horseback suddenly called him out from behind him.

"Your Majesty!" The soldier respectfully greeted "We have spotted what seems to be enemy scouts two hills ahead. "

"Leave them be." General Duran said as he began steering his horse towards downhill so that he can join up with the rest of his forces "We must hurry to meet up wit the other kings."

 *****Later that sundown at the Allied Armies' war camp*****

"The Imperial commander isn't coming?"

"The Imperial Army is currently facing the enemy at Alnus Hill as we speak. The commander cannot leave" An Imperial officer explained

"That makes no sense." General Duran said "I did not see many enemies on the hill."

"Duran, sir, the Imperial Army is holding the enemy at the bay in our place." Duke Ligu spoke up

"Lord Ligu..." General Duran said

"We would like your armies to attack the enemy at sunrise tomorrow." The Imperial officer requested

"Understood."One of the generals of the Allied Armies said as he rose from his seat "My army will take the front line."

"No! Mine will!" Another general countered

"Wait!" Another one said

"We will take the front lines this time!"

Later after the Imperial officer left, many of the generals began bragging to each other about how they will easily stomp down on the invading army. Meanwhile, General Duran and Duke Ligu where calmly watching their colleagues boast.

"Unfortunately, my army cannot take the front lines." Duke Ligu said

"There are fewer than 10,000 enemies. Our army is 300, 000 men altogether. Do you believe that the only path to glory is to be at the front?" General Duran asks

"The why do you not wish to be at the front?" Duke Ligu asks in return

"I have a bad feeling about this." General Duran replies

Duke Ligu gave out a hearty chuckle "Apparently Duran, Lion of the Erbe Clan, is no match against the passing of time."

General Duran didn't mind Ligu's remark but for somehow, he just can't shake off the feeling that something is just not right.

 *****Sunrise*****

As the first rays of sunshine greeted the waking world, an large allied force of 10,000 soldiers strong can be seen marching through the plains that lead to Alnus Hill. Hundreds of soldiers march together in tightly packed formations while their flanks are being guarded by dozens of the allied kingdoms best cavalry units as well as some orcs, trolls, pig men and all sorts of humanoid like creatures that the armies either brought in as paid mercenaries or prisoners whom they just forced to fight along with them on pain of death.

As the Allied Army march, they passed through a large sign displaying words that are written in some form of unknown language that they cannot understand.

* **KEEP OUT!** ORCA and League territory! All trespassers will be terminated without warning!*

The Allied Army decided to ignore the meaningless sign and went on with their march. As they went on with their approach, the Allied Army didn't know that the enemy actually already saw them coming from several miles away and have already prepared the surprise gift that they will present to their guests.

 _"Kagutsuchi here. Me and my squad have confirmed that the moths have begun to approach the flames. Should we burn them right now?"_

 _"This is Goldenrod. Kagutsuchi, you and your squad have permission to burn the moths down now."_

The Allied Armies suddenly stopped moving as they heard a strange whistling noise in the background and before they now it, multiple explosions began abruptly appearing all over the Allied Armies' ranks, tearing apart dozens of men at a very fast rate as several dozen unknown objects began raining down from the sky, wrecking havoc on the Allied Armies' forces and generally slaughtering the majority of their men in the blink of an eye.

In the invading army's defensive position, at least half a dozen NEXTs along with almost several dozen Normal ACs composed of ZENGAMEs and GA03 SOLARWINDs are firing hundreds of missiles and grenade shells at the Allied Armies' positions with some of them even laughing madly in glee.

 _"That's right! Scream for me! SCREAM FOR ME!"_ Kagari laughed maniacally inside her cockpit as she unleashed another devastating barrage of missiles from her NEXT Kagutsuchi.

Screams indeed fill the air as plenty of men got torn or blasted apart by the high amount of ordinance fired upon them.

"No! My men! What is this?!" Duke Ligu screamed as his eyes grew wide when he saw a missile about to fall on his position, the image being the final thing he ever saw as the missile exploded in his position and a searing blast of flames consumed him and the men unlucky enough to be right near him to a charred crisp.

In a safe distance, General Duran and his forces watch in horror and sheer outright terror at the massacre unfolding before their very eyes.

"No... " General Duran managed to finally speak out despite being rooted into his position by the unbelievable event that he is witnessing "Is Alnus Hill erupting?"

After several more seconds of loud blasts and screams, the explosions finally stopped and the entire plain was covered in an extremely thick cloud of smoke and debris that it is impossible to see what is going on with there.

 _"Kagutsuchi here. Moths have been completely incinerated."_ Kagari cheerfully reported

When the smoke cleared, the image that greeted General Duran and his men was one that will forever haunt them in their lives as General Duran saw hundreds of badly mangled bodies lying around the charred field. Thousands of torn human body parts, smoking craters, broken weapons and armor litter the entire landscape as well as the hideously charred corpses of an unknown number of unluckier victims.

The scene was so gruesome and revolting that several of the soldiers that were in General Duran's forces threw up. Meanwhile, General Duran himself was simply staring blankly in space.

"Where's the King of Alguna? Where is the King of Mudwan? Where's Duke Ligu?"

 *****Allied Kingdoms First Offensive Result - Approximately 10,000 dead*****

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **REXCALIBER Plasma Assault Rifle -** Standing out for **R** evolutionary **EX** perimental High **CALIBER** Plasma Assault Rifle (The designers couldn't find any word to pair up with the H in the name so they decided to just leave it be and ignore it), the REXCALIBER is a multipurpose high powered standard issue plasma assault rifle developed in a joint effort by Akva Vit and Rayleonard in an attempt to create the ultimate mass produceable assault rifle. Firing strong plasma rounds that are capable of eating through most standard issue combat armor and shields, the REXCALIBUR Assault rifle is capable of switching between a semiautomatic mode for well placed shots or a fully automatic mode for suppression fire and is even capable of being outfitted with various kinds of additional accessories that can aid it in combat like a special scope equipped with both thermal and night vision, a underbarrel plasma shotgun for use in close quarters or a underbarrel grenade launcher for use against stronger armored opponents which the rifle's plasma rounds have difficulty penetrating through, laser sights and even a bayonet though the last accessory was rarely even used by most troops due to the enemy almost never getting within reach of them.

 **OSAR Type 37 DRAGOON APC -** A special high speed armored troop transport developed in a joint effort by Omer Science and Rosenthal which is evidenced in its name as OSAR stands for **O** mer **S** cience **A** nd **R** osenthal. The APC is based on a lightweight frame designed by Omer Science while the rest of the high quality parts and weapons came from Rosenthal. With its lightweight frame, the Type 37 DRAGOON is capable of high speed mobility on the battlefield and the special engine designed in cooperation by the two corporations enables it to achieve top speed in just a few seconds.

With its lightweight frame, this APC cannot take too much punishment and while it can withstand several shots from light and some moderate anti-tank weapons, it cannot fare well against weapons of a higher caliber. With this in mind, Omer Science and Rosenthal decided to equip the DRAGOON with a Primal Armor Generator that's similar to the one used by NEXTs and Arms Forts, the difference being only in size and strength. About at least 16 men can be fitted inside a single APC. For its armaments, the DRAGOON is equipped with a single mounted machinegun, gun ports at its sides to allow the men inside to fire their weapons at the enemy with the added benefit of turning the APC into a mobile bunker and four hovering recon drones that the DRAGOON APC deploys from the two hatches on its side.

 **Normal ACs** \- The coalition's primary air force and armored divisions are made out of what are termed as Normal ACs or Normals for short. Unlike the NEXTs, the Normals are relatively cheap and easy to mass produce though they cannot use Kojima Particles and cannot be customized. Pilots for Normals are also much easier to train and find then the ones for NEXTs thus Normals are highly deemed as expendable by both the League and ORCA. However, the offside of all this is that Normals are widely known to be inferior in strength and skill when compared to their NEXT cousins and it takes a really massive number of Normal ACs to match even one NEXT in strength.

The coalition's armored divisions are usually made up of ZENGAMEs, GA03 SOLARWINDs, TYPE-DULAKEs and GOPPERT G-3s, all of which are designed and developed by Arisawa Heavy Industries, GA America, Rosenthal and Aldra respectively while the air support is made up of TYPE-CORVAE ACs and its several derived variants. The TYPE-CORVAE is a Normal AC developed by Omer Science with designs based on Shiro Kamui's famous NEXT White Glint. The design allowed the TYPE-CORVAE to easily switch between a flight mode to a land based mode, giving this Normal AC a large degree of versatility and mobility in combat. The TYPE-CORVAE had been created by Omer Science to replace their TYPE-ARGINE Normal ACs which have been deemed a failure by Omer Science's higher ups due to being too slow and aerodynamically inefficient.


	4. The Battle of Alnus Hill

_Special Thanks to Mastermind and alexkehling for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

* * *

 ***** 3rd Episode: The Battle of Alnus Hill *****

To say that the Allied Armies' second offensive didn't fare out so well would be a massive understatement.

3 days later during their next attempted assault, the Allied Armies brought in at least four times as many troops this time round and even made a plan to separate their forces into two groups in an attempt to flank the enemy army's side and catch them around in a pincer like movement but unfortunately none of their preparations and plans did nothing to change the predestined outcome of that battle.

During the 2nd assault the main group of the Allied Army's forces were once again greeted by a devastating bombardment of grenades, bombs and missiles courtesy of a group of Normal ACs and NEXTs which blasted their formations apart to pieces.

One of the Normal AC pilots who's commandeering a standard issue GA03-SOLARWIND gave out a loud cry as she unleashed all of her ordnance at once at a single large group of targets which easily blasted them all to smithereens.

The female pilot smirked before she noticed half a dozen hostiles approaching her on her radar which made her glance upwards and saw six dragon riders rapidly flying towards their position.

She tried to fire a bunch of missiles at the flying targets but she quickly found out that she has ran out. Cursing, the female pilot decided to switch to her GA03-SOLARWIND's machinegun instead and began mowing down the enemy flyers so fast that they began dropping like flies.

"Hey Kuribayashi! Don't spend all of your missiles in one attack!" One of Kuribayashi's superiors angrily scolded at her through the communications channel. "If it were an enemy AC you would have been dead by now!"

"Apologies sir!" Shino Kuribayashi replied back through the communications channel but at this point, she couldn't care less as she was used to being reprimanded by her superiors due to her reckless behavior in battle and lack of preservation in combat. Besides, she was having too much fun here to even care about getting chewed out.

At the other side of the hill, the second group that split off from the main one were ambushed by a single squad of half a dozen NEXTs who appeared and dropped right out of the sky and landed deliberately on the most tightly packed and concentrated members of the group, squashing the poor soldiers beneath the gigantic feet of their NEXTs.

"Special delivery!" Kagari gleefully announces before she and her squad brought out their flamethrowers and began burning the entire enemy army alive into ashes with Kagari laughing madly as she and her squad does so.

 *****Allied Kingdom's Second Offensive Result - Approximately 40,000 dead*****

"This is a disaster!" One of the Allied generals exclaimed to the remaining generals who are still alive and have gathered at the war table. "We have less than half of the men we set out with!"

"How could this have happened?" Another general spoke out in despair.

"Where is the Imperial army? What are they doing?" Another one asked

One of the generals shook his head "No, not even the Imperial army could stand a chance against them. Should we not retreat?"

"We cannot run off now." General Duran stated as he finally broke out his silence. "Not before I repaid them with an arrow."

The other generals gasped out in shock.

"But Lord Duran, we have hardly enough might! Our forces clearly won't survive in a direct battle with the enemy as it was clearly shown with our recent losses!"

General Duran thought deeply for a brief moment until an idea formed in his head.

"Perhaps a night raid would work?" General Duran suggested

 *****Next Evening*****

Tonight is a new moon and no light was shining upon the world to guide it out of the darkness. This night would make it the perfect time to launch a devastating sneak attack on the enemy as long as they move fast and avoid alerting the enemy to their presence.

"In this darkness, we should be able to make it to the other side of the hill and ambush the enemy." General Duran stated as he and the large number of troops he had under his command moved as lightly as they can when suddenly, General Duran noticed some kind of strange, faint green light glowing at the distance inside a large section of forest that his scouts have reported to house some of the frightening metal giants that the enemy forces have at their disposal.

"Wha-What is that?" General Duran wondered when 5 more glowing green lights appeared at the edge of the forest and sure enough, Duran got his answer as six bright beams of green energy shot forth from the forest and swiftly lanced through Duran's forces, vaporizing those that got caught in their path before a series of massive explosions followed the beam's paths.

"No!" Duran exclaimed in horror before the usual bombardment of missiles and grenades began raining down on his troops again, devastating their ranks and causing them all to fall out of their formations.

"Follow me!" General Duran screamed to his men as he whipped his horse and charged directly into the enemy's direction. "All units attack! Knights, run! Footmen, run! Run!"

It wasn't just a few minutes before the forest in the distance began glowing with those strange green lights again and before Duran could register it in his mind, at least half a dozen devastating beams of green light shot forth once more and cleaved through half of his forces again. One beam narrowly missed Duran by a few inches and the veteran general could feel the intense heat emanating from the strange beam on the skin beneath his heavy armor.

"Follow me! Keep going! Run!" General Duran shouted in encouragement as he bravely charged through enemy fire when disaster suddenly struck as he briefly saw his horse stepped on something small and circular that's only half-buried on the ground with some kind of blinking beacon in its center which quickly blew up and exploded beneath the hoof of Duran's horse, throwing him off into the air before he crash landed back to the ground.

"Lord Duran! We are coming!" Duran's men cried out in assurance as they quickly came to the aid of their fallen leader. Two of the men tried to help Duran, who was covered in the blood and guts of his blown up horse while the rest swiftly surrounded them and held their shields defensively up front in a tortoise like formation in the hopes of protecting their general from the enemy's attacks.

When General Duran was finally standing on his own feet, he saw what his men were up to do and he quickly pushed the two men attending him away and yelled at his men to run as he realizes what they are doing is practically futile against whatever sorcery this invading army has.

Unfortunately, Duran was too late as the strange beams of green light shot forth once again and easily obliterated the two groups of soldiers standing defensively at his sides but what horrified Duran even more was that the beam didn't even leave a single corpse behind on its path and that it even consumed the ground that the soldiers were formerly standing on, creating an almost perfect, surgical like cut on the ground.

During that moment, the green beams continued firing on Duran's remaining forces accompanied by several missile and grenade strikes from the Normal ACs and NEXTs hiding safely in their defensive positions.

With screams of people dying horribly and the sound of explosions filling the air, Duran began to almost mindlessly walk towards the direction of the enemy's position despite the numerous narrow misses of explosions happening all around him.

His face expressionless, Duran bent over and picked up a bow and arrow from the arms of a dead soldier which to mind you, weren't attached anymore to any body in sight.

With an almost quiet grunt, Duran nocked the arrow in his bow and aimed it at the direction of the source of the enemy's fire before he lets go and watched as it disappeared over at the horizon.

 *****XOXOX*****

 _Plunk!_

"Huh? What was that?" Kuribayashi wondered as she thought she heard something bump into the head of her GA03-SOLARWIND and bounced off before she simply shrugged and said "Probably nothing."

 *****XOXOX*****

Duran stared blankly as multiple explosions still blew up all around him, his mind simply never there.

"We didn't stand a chance… No, from the start we never did…" Duran muttered softly before he unexpectantly grinned and began laughing madly as a large grenade fired by a ZENGAME exploded near where he was standing.

 *****That morning*****

The morning sun once again greeted the waking world as well as the ones who will never wake up. On the recent battlefield, a squadron of NEXTs and Normal ACs were inspecting the length of damaged they have caused.

Itami looked grim as he saw the extent of the damage and slaughter they have inflicted upon the enemy through the display screen of his NEXT Kagerou.

"I heard we have killed roughly 60,000 thousand of them." Takeru spoke out as his image popped out on Itami's screen.

"They sent another 60,000 to Surtr Squad as well. So that's a 120,000 in all." Itami replied quietly

"Are you worrying about the enemy?" Takeru asks

"Won't you?" Itami replied back "Think about it. A hundred and twenty thousand. What kind of nation are we fighting?"

"The kind that burns easily." Kagari chuckles as her image entered Itami's screen "Smells beautiful right? The aroma of smoke and human flesh mixes so well together."

Takeru growls "Shouldn't you be bothering someone else with your twisted fantasy Vermillions?"

Kagari feigns an innocent look "Oh but aren't we all in this slaughter together? That means we are all best friends right?"

"You are one sick, twisted bitch." Takeru remarked

Kagari blushed "Oh you are really embarrassing me here."

"That wasn't a compliment." Takeru retorted

Kagari smirked "But for me it is. Anyway, the boss wants to see you two back at the base ASAP. It seems he has an assignment prepared for you two."

Kagari's image zoomed out, leaving the two male NEXT pilots wondering what kind of assignment their superiors are planning for them.

 *****Imperial Palace, Emperor Molt's throne room*****

"Your Majesty, we expect over at least 120,000 casualties in total among the allied nations." Emperor Molt's advisor reported "The defeated armies have been left without leadership and are returning home."

"All according to plan." Emperor Molt smugly stated "Our neighbors can no longer threaten the Empire. Now, burn every village ad town from Alnus to the Imperial City. Poison their wells and take all of their food and livestock. That will stop any army and leave them vulnerable."

"Scorched earth tactics I see.." The advisor commented "I worry about the defectors and loss of tax revenue."

"Defectors you say?" Emperor Molt smirked.

"There are motions to have you recalled within the senate beginning with Duke Casel." The advisor explained.

"This is a good opportunity to take care of the entire senate in one swoop." Emperor Molt said "Let us order the council to investigate."

"Your Majesty." A new voice greeted as the large doors to the throne room of Emperor Molt opened before revealing a young woman with red hair and eyes wearing a feminine style of regal armor with a white cape billowing behind her back.

"My dear daughter. What do you need?" Emperor Molt asked

"It's about Alnus your Majesty." Princess Pina Colada answered "I have learned that an allied army has faced miserable defeat and that the Empire's holy ground, Alnus Hill is being occupied by enemy forces. What are you doing at a time like this?"

"We will use this opportunity to take back the Hill." The advisor stated

"What complacency!" Princess Pina shouted "That will not help us stop the enemy invasion!"

"Pinya, you are correct." Emperor Molt agreed "But we are far too ignorant regarding the enemy that occupies Alnus Hill."

"This is perfect" Emperor Molt mused "Could I ask you and your Order to scout their position?"

"Me?" Pina asked in surprise "With my Order?"

"Indeed." Emperor Molt confirmed "If your Order is more than your plaything, of course."

"I understand, Your Majesty." Pina replied as she bowed on her knee in respect to her father.

 *****Meanwhile*****

The heads of the corporations making up the League watched footage of the Battle of Alnus Hill from inside their headquarters, the video detailing how easily the task force group that they and ORCA have created curbstomped the opposing enemy army. The enemy army didn't even manage to get within a few miles of the base before they were totally annihilated.

Once the footage ended, each of the CEOs began discussing their opinions and voices about the battle.

"It seems the enemy that we are facing are essentially savages wielding sticks and stones." The CEO of Omer Science dryly commented

"It would appear so. That means our invasion will practically go smoothly if things keep on going this way." The head of Algebra replied.

"What are the rest of the coalition currently doing at this time of the round?" Global Armament's CEO asked this time.

The head of the Rosenthal corporation answered his question "Currently, they are setting up their forward operations base at the base of the Gate with fresh supplies coming in through it at every hour and so while at the same time capturing and securing any key locations near the site. Besides that, both us and ORCA have sent our intelligence groups to gather information about the enemy and the surrounding lands."

"Information? What do we need that for?" TORUS corporation's CEO asked "We already have all of the information that we need and we saw that this enemy is practically attacking us with swords and arrows of all things."

"Wars are not just fought at the battlefield my friend." The head of Interior Union pointed out "Information can be more powerful than any weapon that we could have possibly developed."

"Indeed." The head of Bernard and Felix Foundation agreed "In fact, we have found out that the political stability in that world is almost as shaky as our relationship to each other during the LYNX wars. A lot of the people there are quite unsatisfied with the Empire's authoritative rule. Perhaps we can offer them a better future if they are under our guidance."

"That sounds interesting." Omer's CEO admitted "This will indeed further our plans for the future. But first, we need to pacify elements that are hostile to our advances and strike...'alliances' with ones that are friendly to our approach."

"What do you suppose we should do about ORCA?" Interior Union's CEO asks "They might be planning the same objective as us. It is no big secret that they are interested in the other world too."

"Let them be for the while." Rosenthal's head replied "As of now, we should think long term if we want our plans to succeed. The vast amount of untapped natural resources that the other world possess simply can't be ignored."

"Agreed." The rest of the League replied in unison.

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **The Battle of Alnus Hill -** This battle (if it can hardly be called a battle) was a one sided skirmish between the coalition forces of the League and ORCA against the combined military might of the kingdoms allied with the Empire. Despite being heavily outnumbered 30 to 1, the combined forces of the League and ORCA were more than enough for the armies of the Allied Kingdoms to take and were successfully able to repel them off with little to no casualties to their side. The same cannot be said for the armies of the Allied Kingdoms who lost a huge chunk of their forces along with many of their great commanders and leaders like General Duran and Duke Ligu. With the majority of their leadership lost and morale being very, very low, the remaining soldiers and survivors decided to abandon the fight and return to their respective homes while some even deserted completely and went on to become bandits and marauders in order to take advantage of the chaos created by the sudden arrival of a faction that's tremendously more powerful than the Empire itself.

 **Kojima OMEGA Particle Cannon -** An absolutely devastating weapon designed by Rayleonard, the OMEGA Particle Cannon was created with exactly one goal in idea and that is the complete annihilation and destruction on any enemy it is used against. Almost rivaling the Sol Dios Cannons when it come to sheer destructive power, this weapon can easily punch through the Primal Armor of almost every NEXT in existence and can even take down one of the lower class Arms Forts in one shot. The only drawback of this is the absolutely massive power consumption it possess which is why it is normally equipped to an Arms Fort. However, Rayleonard, with some assistance from Akva Vit and Interior Union, have managed to create a smaller version of the cannon that can be equipped to NEXTs. These smaller versions are only about 65% less destructive than the original. However, their remaining strength is still formidable and just one shot can still reduce a NEXT's Primal Armor to zero if given the chance. The reduction in power also gave the portable version a huge reduction in power consumption, however the NEXT equipped with it cannot fire in succession with the cannon as they have to wait up for it to charge for a brief while before it can even fire and that they will be prevented from even moving from their positions during the charging period until they have fired their load.

During the Battle of Alnus Hill, six NEXTs equipped with the small versions of these cannons were deployed in the fight in order to test the cannons' effectiveness. The cannons proved to exceed expectations as the weapons were practically devastating against the armies of the Allied Kingdoms and have accounted for 78.98% of the casualties inflicted.


	5. 3rd Recon Team

_Hey everyone! I like to say thanks to everyone who has ever read or liked my story. I never thought it would get this many so fast. Anyway I will like to tell you guys in advance that I'm planning to open a very small oc contest in the future when I have a certain number of chapters finish but as of now, I'm still planning the formats and requirements. However at this time, I need some additional ideas for the names of some NEXTs. If you guys can provide me with some very good suggestions then I would be really grateful for it. But anyway, enough with my rambling already! Let's get this story on!_

 _Special Thanks to Wisesarachi and alexkehling for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

* * *

 ***** 4th Episode: 3rd Recon Team*****

"This is your assignment you two." Solomon Schneider said as he began debriefing the two LYNXs standing in front of him. "Your mission is to gather intelligence and investigate the people, industries, religion and politics of this region."

"An investigation huh? That sounds good." Itami grinned

"Don't think that I'm messing you two." Schneider replied coldly "This mission is of utmost importance to both the League and ORCA as even though we may have the technological advantage and superiority here, we still don't know much about this world. Head intelligence believes that the current information that we have may only be the tip of the iceberg and there are still way too many unknown variables. It is best that we make sure that there will be no surprises."

"Well I can understand the reason but surely we won't be doing all of the hard work around here right?" Takeru asks

"Why would I say that?" Schneider replied "Of course I will assign you guys a team to help you two undertake your mission."

Both Itami and Takeru listened carefully as Schneider begins his explanation.

"First we are going to form 10 deep recon teams. Your mission will be to command one of them. Each team will be assigned at least two LYNXs coming from some of the high profile LYNX squads. Most of them came from squads like Valkyrie Squad and Surtr Squad."

"Surtr Squad?!" Itami exclaimed in shock

"Why the hell would you allow one of the psychos from that crazy bitch's squad join a deep recon mission of all things?!" Takeru yelled as he pointed out how absolutely bad it is to assign one of the mentally unstable members of an ax crazy squad to an intelligence gathering team.

"It is not in my choice to say." Schneider sighed "The decision came from the higher ups and they allowed a few members of Surtr Squad to join due to their excellent combat abilities and effectiveness. However, they made sure to pick the most mentally stable individuals from that group."

Itami glared hard at his superior as if he just told them a very bad joke or something "Most mentally stable? Since when did those guys even have stable members to begin with?"

"This is so totally not going to backfire on your face." Takeru sarcastically said

"Watch your tongue. I'm still your superior here." Schneider warned

"Fine but don't say that I didn't warn you." Takeru replied

"So, who will be leading the group that we will be assigned to?" Itami asks

Schneider smirked "Why, you of course. As of today, I'm temporary assigning you the rank of 1st Lieutenant. Congratulations Itami Youji, you've been promoted albeit temporarily."

"Wha…What?!" Itami exclaimed in shock and surprise while Takeru grins and places his arm around his friend's shoulder.

"Well, it seems I have to congratulate you bro! You have been promoted!" Takeru chuckles

"Yeah, I feel really overjoyed right now." Itami sarcastically mutters.

"You should be." Takeru replied before he turned his glance to Schneider "So what will be my temporary rank for the mission be boss? Since Itami will be the leader here, I guess my rank will be a little bit lower than his. So what will it be? 2nd Lieutenant? Warrant Officer?"

"Private." Schneider bluntly said

"That's fine. It's just a little lower than whyTHEHELLAMIAPRIVATE?!" Takeru suddenly began shouting angrily after he was informed of his new temporary rank.

"How should I know?" Schneider replied smugly "I'm not the one who personally assigns your ranks. The orders came from Thermidor himself. Perhaps he thinks one of you needs to learn a little lesson in humility."

"By being somebody's bitch?" Takeru snarled

"To be blunt, yes." Schneider smiled as he could barely control himself from laughing.

"I'm so going to step on you with the foot of my NEXT."

"You are welcome to try if you can finally reach the rank of General, Private Tachibana. Now get out of my face already. Your team is already waiting for you outside."

 *****Later*****

Later on, Itami and Takeru both get to meet the rest of Recon Team 3 which consists of Sergeants 2nd Class Kurata and Katsumoto, Leading Privates Tozu, Azuma, Sasakawa and Furuta, Master Sergeant Nishina and Kuwabara and Sergeants First Class Kuribayashi and Kurokawa. All of them are clad in the standard issue dark military combat fatigues and armor that's standard issue with both of the League and ORCA's forces while they each held their REXCALIBER assault rifles firmly in their hands and arms.

"Recon Team 3 reporting for duty sir!" Master Sergeant Kuwabara announced as he and the rest of the recon team stand firmly and respectfully salutes the two LYNXs standing in front of them.

"Hey bro, I think you should greet them back." Takeru whispers

"You don't have to tell me that." Itami mutters before he clears his throat and begins introducing himself to the group that he is assigned with.

"H-Hi! I'm Itami, commander of the Special Region Recon Team 3." Itami nervously greeted before his expression suddenly turned bored and serious "All because I miss the sale of my favorite doujin back at the base. And now I'm a squad commander. All right, let's get going."

Kuribayashi frowned "What's wrong with this guy?"

"Man your vehicles and ACs!" Kuwabara shouted as the Special Region Recon Team 3, which is consisted of a total of 12 people along 3 DRAGOON APCs, 3 Normal ACs that are composed of 2 GOPPERT-G3s and 1 GA03-SOLARWIND and two NEXTs, began going off on an intelligence gathering journey through the unknown countryside.

 *****XOXOX*****

The first stop of Recon Team 3 was to Coda Village, a small village that's only a few miles away from the base and the nearest source of possible information.

Before arriving at the village, the Recon Team decided to send only two of their members first and avoided sending any of their ACs along with them to avoid frightening the local villagers which proved rather successful as they manage to successfully extract a ton of information from the local village elder who proved to be rather cooperative after the two recon team members showed that they were extremely friendly.

After Coda Village, the Recon Team quickly went back on to the road to travel to a hidden village of elves nearby that the village elder directed them to on the map that they showed him.

"The sky's so blue. It's so different from the world we live in." Takeru commented

"It sure is." Itami agreed through the communications system "Though the earth is already recovering from the vast pollution we caused due to the efforts of the League, it sure is something to see a sky so clean and unpolluted like the one we are seeing above us."

"I imagine dragons and fairies flying around here." Kurata suddenly spoke out through the comms "Everyone that we have run into so far had been human. What a bummer."

"You really want to see some girls with cat ears do you, huh?" Itami teased.

"A cat girl, a very hot sorceress, whatever. What about you commander? What's you and Private Tachibana's deal?" Kurata asks.

"Me? I prefer magical girls." Itami replied.

"Same here." Takeru adds. "If you could make it a harem then I'm all ears."

"Seriously?" Kurata asks in surprise.

Itami grins "I really love Emyu from Mei Com."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Well, I like the more mature types." Takeru spoke out.

"Suit yourself Tachibana but I'll kill you if you badmouth my waifu." Itami notified Takeru through the comms.

"Same here." Takeru spoke back.

"Oh? But I can sing the opening from Mei Com." Kurata informed

"What? Serious?!" Itami exclaimed in surprise

"Seriously." Kurata replied as he suddenly began singing the opening itself.

Meanwhile, Kuribayashi is cringing with embarrassment as she heard everything they are saying through the communications channel itself.

"What is this?" Kuribayashi groaned

 *****Sundown*****

"Hey Itami! Can you tell me again why we can't just use the GPS system installed in our NEXTs to track down the location of that village?" Takeru asks Itami through the comms.

"The League and ORCA haven't finished setting up the communications satellites yet." Itami replied "Getting those things set up is not that easy and plus its entirely expensive to set up an entirely new one from scratch. Our GPS receivers are currently useless while the satellites are still not yet in orbit."

"That's too bad." Takeru said

"Indeed." Itami agreed "But we have to make do with it until… wait. Everyone, stop!"

The entire convoy grinds to a halt as they came upon the edge of the forest housing the village of elves that the elder told them about and in the horizon, a tremendous cloud of smoke can be seen billowing above the forest in question.

"Is that a fire?" Kuwabara asks

"Everyone! Deploy your scout drones at once! Something is terribly wrong here!" Itami commanded and the entire recon team quickly complied and activated the recon drones that their DRAGOON APCs are equipped with which swiftly all buzzed to life and began swarming the smoking forest like a group of locusts in search of every bit of information that may have something to do with the forest's fire.

"Everything's burning around here." Kuwabara said as he watched a video feed through the eyes of one of the drones they sent.

"I bet Vermillions and the rest of Surtr Squad would be giggling like idiotic school children if they are here with us." Takeru commented

"Do you think it's just a freak of nature?" Itami asks

"More like a giant monster freak of nature." Kuwabara grimly said "Take a look at this everyone."

Sharing the video feed from one of the drones, the entire recon team watched through the drone's eyes as they saw an absolutely large behemoth of a beast rise up from the trees of the burning forest, its wide, extensive wings lifting it's scaly red body to the air while it blasts a large column of flames into the surrounding entire area.

"Oh my." Itami mumbles

"Well that's something you don't see everyday." Takeru commented as they watched the dragon spew a large blast of flames directly into the area where the drone was hiding from which ultimately cut the rest of the feed off as the drone was destroyed by the dragon's flames.

"A one headed King Ghidorah?" Kuwabara asks

"That stuff's so old Pops." Itami chided

"Commander Itami, what should we do right now?" Kuribayashi asks through the communications.

"Kuribayashi-chan, I'm too scared to go at it alone. Wanna come with me to take it down?" Itami joked

"No thank you. Even I have standards." Kuribayashi replied

"Oh, okay."

"Maybe we can take it down if we worked carefully with each other?" Takeru suggested

Itami shook his head "I doubt it. With the large fire burning around the forest, it will be very disadvantageous for us to fight that thing around here."

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard and the recon team saw the crimson dragon's large scaly body rise up in the air from a distance, its large extensive wings beating the air around it hard.

This instantly caused the entire recon team to become alarmed and they swiftly prepared their weapons to fire at any given notice but instead of coming over and attacking them, the red dragon suddenly turned and began flying off in an opposite direction as if it didn't even noticed them.

"Well that's a relief." Takeru sighed

"It's flying away." Kuwabara said

"Do you think that dragon really has a habit of burning down forests for no reason?" Itami asks

"I can think of an entire group of people who have a habit of burning people for no reason." Takeru muttered

"If you are interested in dragon behavior, why don't you ask it yourself commander?" Kuribayashi suggested

"No, I mean don't you remember what they were saying back in Coda Village? About there being a settlement in this forest?"

Kuribayashi tensed "You don't mean… oh crap."

"Shit. This is not good." Takeru cursed

"Pops, it looks like we have to set up camp later." Itami said to Kuwabara over at the communications channel.

"Understood." Kuwabara replied "All units, prepare to move!"

 *****Sunrise*****

The sun's morning light shines upon the area of the forest visited by the dragon, revealing a pretty gruesome site.

Besides the charred trees and rocks, remains of broken settlements along with the burnt bodies of its former inhabitants can be found everywhere in the section of the forest that, according to the Coda Village elder, once housed an entire village of elves before it was mercilessly burnt to ashes by the dragon that visited it.

"The ground's still hot." Kuwabara said

"It'll be a miracle if we found any survivors" Takeru muttered "Man, it feels like I'm walking through one of Vermillions' sick fantasies."

At the other side of the burnt village, Itami and Kurata were walking through the wreckage when Kurata spots a severely burnt, blackened hand sticking out from a large pile of rubble near them.

"Commander, I see…" Kurata began

"Don't say it." Itami said

After a long, depressing while of inspecting the damage, Itami took a seat near the well of the former village and began drinking the water from his canteen when Kuribayashi suddenly approached him.

"Commander, there are 32 building like structures in this settlement." Kuribayashi reported. "We only confirmed 27 corpses. It's too few. I believe that they were caught under the rubble when the buildings collapsed under the fire."

"Assuming there were 3 people per building, that means a hundred people died." Itami sighed

"It's terrible." Kuribayashi agreed

"We should make a report that the dragons here attack settlements and might even try to attack the base." Itami said

"I doubt that they would last long even if they did." Kuribayashi said "The smaller ones easily got torn apart by the missiles of even the most basic Normal ACs that we have and I recently found out that the machinegun from my GA03-SOLARWIND is quite effective at tearing through their armor."

"The bullets from your AC's machinegun were designed to punch through the armor of other NEXTs so it was no surprise that they can easily pierce through something smaller than that." Itami explained as he began picking up a small bucket and rope nearby in order to get some water from the well to refill his canteen "But still we have to find the dragon's nest and figure out when and where it will show up again."

Throwing the bucket into the well, Itami suddenly heard a strange sound coming out from the well once the bucket finished landing to the bottom of it

 _Clunk!_

"I think I just heard something." Itami said as he and Kuribayashi peered inside the well.

"What was that?" Kuribayashi wondered as she brought out her flashlight and shined it deep inside the well and the thing they saw inside caused both of their eyes to grow very wide.

"A person. There's a person inside here!" Itami cried out

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **NEXT Squads –** A regular squad of NEXTs is mostly made up of 3-5 individuals but a single NEXT squad can also have as many as 6-10 LYNXs making up its ranks too. Currently, the squad with the most number of members in its ranks is the Valkyrie Squad, a 16 individual strong squad led by the veteran LYNX Cloud Nyne, pilot of the NEXT Valhalla. Most of the NEXT Squads have an area of expertise that allows them to excel at certain situations. For example, Valkyrie Squad excels at lightning fast raids due to its members using fast, light weight NEXTs with improved flight capabilities while the Grendel Squad lead by Gustav Koenig, pilot of the NEXT Gutentag, far outshines anyone when it comes to frontline combat due to the excellent armor and heavy weapons of their tank like NEXTs. However, the most infamous NEXT Squad of them all is probably Surtr Squad, a six individual team led by the notorious LYNX Kagari Vermillions who is known for her extremely sadistic, sociopathic tendencies that would make even the most bloodthirsty NEXT pilot throw up in disgust. Surtr Squad is known for specializing in psychological warfare in combat and they do this by acting as much frightening and monstrous as possible and they do this by finishing their enemies in various kinds of brutal methods. Burning people alive using their flamethrowers seems to be their favorite method and a lot of their members practically relish in hearing their enemies scream as they burn to death especially Kagari who became well known through her moniker, 'Brimstone'. As of now, there are at least 100+ NEXT squads currently in existence and growing. A majority of them are currently under the employ of either the League or ORCA with only a few working for some of the independent corporations and even fewer working as freelancers.

 **Military Ranks and Designations –** Both the military forces of the League and ORCA used ranks and designations in order to address their chain of command. However, this only applies to regular infantry units and Normal AC pilots and does not apply to LYNXs since they only answer to the heads of the League or ORCA themselves and perhaps to the people specifically chosen and handpicked by the League or ORCA to be their direct superiors. This unsurprisingly draws some minor confusion from the people who have been assigned under the direct supervision of a LYNX as they don't know how to address them, however this problem was quickly taken care of by temporary assigning a top, designated rank on the spot to the LYNX in question if they will be assigned with a team. Unfortunately, this caused a lot of people who got assigned to the command of a LYNX to instantly hate the LYNX they are assigned under to due to them believing that all LYNX pilots think that they are far more superior and important than the cannon fodder they are assigned with and that they can easily receive high ranking positions in the military from the League or ORCA themselves without having to even earn it in the first place, a fact that most regular military personnel resent due to them earning their designated ranks through years of hard work, training and combat. Fortunately, most LYNXs were able to gain the trust of their subordinates by trying to act as equals to the men under their charge, slowly building up their confidence with each other over time until such time that they act almost like a family together. Unfortunately, that can't be said for some others.


	6. Evacuation

_Special Thanks to Siphon 117, the renegade soldier and alexkehling for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

* * *

 ***** 5th Episode: Evacuation*****

"Hm, I have to say they did a really good job here." Kagari said out in admiration as she looked upon the burned remains of the village her recon team was supposed to be visiting at the screen of her NEXT "Though they could have made their job easier if they used some fuel to speed up the process."

"Commander!" Master Sergeant Osric called out as his image popped up on Kagari's screen "We have identified at least 38 buildings that were torched. Privates Caruso and Mei have also found out that the local drinking well has been laced with what they have identified as arsenic."

"What about the drones that we sent earlier to the other two villages surrounding this one? Have you got their results now?"

"Yes ma'am. From the feeds we directly received from the drones, we have found out that both of the villages have suffered the same fate like the one here that we are currently at. Both of them have been torched heavily to the ground."

"It seems they are taking a page directly from the Russians' old strategy book." Kagari mused "So I guess it is safe to assume that the other villages we are suppose to be visiting have been burned down too. No matter, they are just making our jobs easier for us."

"Ma'am, what do you mean?" Osric asks

"Since they have probably torched every village here leading to their capital in a pathetic attempt to starve us off, it is safe to assume that they have abandoned these places which means we can safely establish more FOBs all the way to the border of their capital without any kind of opposition hindering us meaning the fools just unintentionally handed us their own capital city on a silver platter!"

"I bet the higher ups will be pleased despite the different results." Osric adds

"Indeed." Kagari smirked "Though I'm kinda disappointed personally that I didn't get to burn those villages myself but I bet that will all pass once I get to personally burn their capital city with my flamethrower."

Osric shifts uncomfortably at Kagari's disconcerting statement "You know the higher ups won't let you do that right?"

"The higher ups? Hah!" Kagari laughed "ORCA and some of the PR hungry corporations maybe soft enough to try diplomacy first but there are a lot of others out there who would love to deploy me for an Imperial City weenie roast."

Kagari gave out a relaxing sigh as she said the last four words. "I can almost smell the flesh cooking from their bones."

Osric cleared his throat in an attempt to quickly change the subject "Um Commander, I think there is something you should know too. The first village the drones investigated have found out that the well it possesses has been tainted with arsenic just like the village here too however, the second village that the drones investigated has its well completely intact and clean. What's more, the signs of arson didn't completely match with the descriptions that the two villages had with each other."

This got Kagari's interest to perk up "What do you mean Osric?"

"Our drones have found signs of very gigantic footprints all over the place along with extremely high heat signatures all over the area that suggested that the fire used to burn the second village is almost just below the surface temperature of the sun itself."

"Interesting, I wonder what kind of weapon can make flames that hot." Kagari mused

"Do you think it's some kind of dragon Commander?" Osric asks "From what I have seen, those beasts can spew out flames without even logically burning themselves up."

"Possibly though the one that did this must have been a bit bigger than the ones we have seen since the flames produced by those small fry are pathetically weak. No matter. That tiny bit of information doesn't even change anything by a bit. Tell the boss to send some men to secure this area. Once our war factories are up and running in this world, we can finally create and send our Arms Forts to the Imperial Capital to 'negotiate' the kind of peace that _we_ want. After that, tell the rest of Recon Team 4 to begin leaving. Since our first objective here was made invalid, we are now setting out forth for our secondary objective."

"Secondary objective?" Osric asks "What is it? The top brass never told us about any secondary objective."

"Oh Osric, it is nothing complicated." Kagari chuckles "Our second objective is to simply have fun."

"By having fun you mean…?"

Kagari gives out a disturbing smirk as she replied "Why, slaughtering lives of course! The boss secretly gave us a secondary objective once we have completed the first. We are told to slaughter any hostile elements like bandits and marauders so that they would not threaten the areas we secured."

"Won't it be better that we just captured them alive instead?" Osric asks uneasily

"Maybe but where's the fun in that?" Kagari pointed out "Besides, it will be fun Osric. It'll be like taking a stroll through a park filled with burning trees and charred corpses!"

"I'm so gonna get mentally scarred for this." Osric muttered

 *****Meanwhile*****

"Her vitals are steady." Kurokawa stated as she managed to stabilize the female patient's pulse. "Take her wet clothes off, she might catch Pneumonia that way."

Kuribayashi nodded as she brought out a pair of scissors "Sorry but I have to cut this off."

Outside the DRAGOON APC where Kurokawa and Kuribayashi were treating the single survivor of the elven village, Kurata was happily crying out in excitement.

"It's an elf commander! An elf! And a blonde no less! This is awesome! Hooray for the Special Region! I sense good things coming to our way!"

"Dude, you're into elves?" Itami asks

"Excuse me." Kurokawa announced as she stepped out from the APC.

"How is she?" Itami questions her

"Her body temperature is returning to normal. There are no visible wounds on her body so we don't need to use any kind of med-gel on her so she's out of mortal danger now." Kurokawa answered

"That's good." Itami said in relief

"So what should we do now?" Kurokawa asks Itami this time

Itami paused "Let's see… first find me a pair of dry boots!"

Kurokawa tilts her head in confusion before Itami continues talking albeit seriously this time.

"This settlement has just been wiped out. We can't just leave her here. Let's take her back to the base as a refugee."

Kurokawa smiled "I knew I could count on you to say that."

"I'm a humane person right?" Itami grins

"Gee, I don't know." Kurokawa mischievously chuckles "I thought it might be rude of me to bring up the fact that you and some of the others here have some odd interests or that she's an elf."

Kurata and Itami mere just gave her some awkward smiles and glances.

 *****Later*****

"We are now returning back to Alnus Base via Coda Village." Itami announced through the APC's communications channel.

"Hey commander! We won't run into that dragon again before we get to meet a cat girl right?" Kurata asks Itami while keeping his eyes focused on the road.

"Don't jinx it." Itami grumbled "What if it actually happens?"

"Then we kill it. It's just that simple." Takeru joked over at the comms.

"You really want to fight a dragon do you?"

"Hey! Some of our weapons are designed to attack Arms Forts for crying out loud, bro." Takeru complained

"And some of those Arms Forts in question can still take a couple of NEXTs down with them before they got destroyed." Itami carefully reminded his friend. "We are on an intelligence gathering mission, not a hunting mission of sorts. As much as possible, we have to choose to avoid combat if it's totally unnecessary."

"Still a bummer." Takeru sighed

Once they have returned to Coda Village, Itami informed the village elder there about the dragon they had saw and how it had burnt the elven village they were supposed to be visiting. Upon hearing the news, the elder and the rest of villagers who heard it instantly went pale and turned into a panic as they quickly began packing their supplies and livestock in a rushed effort to immediately evacuate from the village and its surrounding areas to lands that are far more safe and secure from the dragon's wrath. When Itami told the elder about the single surviving elf they had rescued and asked him if he could take her in, the elder sadly shook his head and declined saying that they got their own big problems to worry about. Itami understood the elder's reply and he even politely offered his help along with the soldiers and ACs under his command to help with the village's evacuation to which the elder graciously accepted.

 *****XOXOX*****

Despite Itami and co. lending several hands and all of their ACs in the evacuation process, the preparations still took some time due to the suddenness of the situation and even after that, a couple of the carts leading the evacuation caravan unexpectedly broke their axles down due to the sheer number of supplies and personal belongings they were transporting which in turn created a long line of traffic behind them.

"Hm? What's going on up ahead there?" Cato El Altestan wondered as a long line of carts and wagon stood ahead him and his young apprentice's own cart.

"Cato-sensei! Lelei!" One of the villagers called out to them and informed "A couple of the carts up ahead broke their axles down due to carrying too much and now they are blocking the way."

"Helping with the evacuations was supposed to be your job!" A muscular voice scolded someone and both Cato and Lelei turned their glances to see a man clad in some strange dark uniform and helmet standing near one of the broken-down carts, his face glaring at something he's holding in his hand. From his physical appearances, Cato deduced that the man was a soldier due to the well tone physique and the fact that he seems to be holding some kind of strange weapon in his other hand.

"I've never heard such a strange language." Cato commented

"I've never seen such clothes before." Lelei adds when both of them felt the ground shook a little bit before a large towering metal giant suddenly appeared near one the carts causing Cato to nearly jump out from his seat while Lelei simply stares in curiosity and awe at the creature they are seeing.

"Oh come on! My NEXT is not made for menial labor!" The metal giant complained

"It's the Commander's orders Private Tachibana." The soldier sternly reminded the metal giant in front of him as if he is not afraid that the colossus could easily squash him like a bug.

"Fine." The metal giant grumbled, seemingly relenting itself "However, you better tell Itami that he now owes me the latest edition of my favorite manga for this!"

The colossus and the soldier then began moving out towards the front of the caravan, leaving Cato and Lelei behind awestricken with the former still glaring in disbelief.

"What matter of creature is that?" Cato finally spoke out "It's absolutely enormous and bigger than any giant that I have ever seen."

"Kurokawa! Make sure that nobody's hurt!" Another soldier yelled to another fellow of his who's clad in a similar uniform like him with only one stark, physical difference between them.

"Female soldiers? That's something you don't see everyday." Cato commented

Lelei felt her fascination with the strange people increase and in a desire to sate her curiosity and interest, she quickly told her mentor that she was going to take a look and swiftly jumped out of the cart and dashed straight towards the front of the temporarily grounded caravan before her master could say anything else.

When Lelei finally arrived at the front, she saw another one the carts got overturned with its horse lying delirious on the ground, its body twitching while large amounts of saliva drooled from its mouth. One of the cart's passengers, a little girl, was also lying on the ground, her body clearly injured as Lelei could see her chest rise up and down rapidly in seconds.

Approaching the girl, Lelei knelt down before placing her hand on the girl's chest to check out her breathing.

"She's in danger." Lelei muttered when the female soldier she saw earlier suddenly approached and knelt down by the injured girl's side too.

"This girl has a concussion." The female soldier revealed "It's possible she has a skull fracture as well."

"You there, stand back." Another soldier told Lelei while he holds his strange weapon firmly in his hands "It's too dangerous."

However, the soldier's warning became useless as the horse that was previously lying delirious under the sun suddenly rose up to its feet before raising itself on its hind legs as its delirium finally driven it into madness.

Lelei froze in fear while both of the soldiers raised and pointed their weapons at the maddened beast but before a single second even passed, the same metal giant from before suddenly appeared and swung its gigantic foot at the crazed horse, sending it flying into the air before it disappears as a faint twinkle in the sky.

"Are you alright there everyone?" The metal giant asks

"We're fine. Thanks for your help Private Tachibana though we could easily have taken care of it on our own." The female soldier replied to the colossus while Lelei was still busy staring at it.

"These people… They saved me." Lelei mumbled

 *****XOXOX*****

"Commander, don't tell me that we're going to be taking care of all these forever right?" Kurata asks while Itami takes a drink from his canteen "Aren't there any lords or royalty around here?"

"About that…" Itami began "I talked to the elder about it. None of the lords of this region ever came back after they were sent to fight us at Alnus Hill."

Kurata gasps "So you are saying…"

Itami nodded "Currently, the areas around here have become lawless."

 *****XOXOX*****

"Commander, we have reached one of the bandit's campsites. But I think someone already did the job for us." Osric informed Kagari over at the communications channel, his stomach churning unpleasantly as he stared at the broken and torn apart bodies of the bandits they were supposed to kill at the screen of his AC. Even if Osric knows that their group were going to kill them anyway, he just couldn't stomach seeing someone killed like that in that way as if some kind of vicious wild animal attacked them and tore apart their bodies as if they were made out of papier-mâché or something.

"Oh phooey! Why does somebody have to steal my fun?" Kagari complained as she angrily lashes out at a rock formation nearby and cuts it cleanly in half with the chainsword of her NEXT "I was planning on hearing a wondrous symphony of screams today and someone has to go around and listen to it first!"

Ignoring Kagari's disturbing complaints, Osric asked her opinion on what could have possible caused this gruesome massacre.

"Something very sharp and heavy I guess." Kagari grumbled "From the strange drag marks on the ground as well as the shape of some of their wounds suggesting a very sharp object, I could guess a pretty big sword or ax. I admire the ferocity of this person's work but cutting people apart is just too boring as it doesn't even leave that wonderful aroma of cooked flesh that burning does. Sure I use a chainsword on my NEXT but I still prefer my flamethrower over it. Still, it's admirable and I have to give them points to it, even if they took my fun away in the first place."

"So what should we do now?" Osric asks

Kagari contemplates for a while before reaching a decision. "Tell the rest of the team to scout the entire area first. There might still be some bandits who survived from whatever attacked them last night and after that, I want you to interrogate them before you bring them to me personally."

"Why? What would you want with them and what are you planning to do with them?"

"What else? I'm going to set them on fire of course. I need to vent out my stress on somebody."

"You can't do that!" Osric shouts out in disgust

"And why can't I? We are assigned to eliminate them in the first place remember? Besides, if I don't have my fun, then I'm going to take my frustration out on the nearest fool beside me. You don't want to be that fool, right Osric?"

"You wouldn't dare-"

Kagari snickers "I would dare. Want to try me? Being burned alive is not a pleasant sensation for the body, Osric."

Osric gulps and seeing that he has no other choice, begins relaying Kagari's order to the rest of Recon Team 4.

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **MURASAME Chainsword, short and long versions –** A special weapon developed by Yanagida Industries. The MURASAME is the result of an ridiculous argument between two of Yanagida Industries' top weapons designers about what weapon could easily cut through a zombie, a chainsaw or a katana. After an hour of going at each other's throats, the two designers decided to just agree on an equal ground and simply just combine the two archaic weapons into one unholy blade of cutting and grinding goodness. The MURASAME's motorized blade is filled with dozens of sharp, pointy chainsaw teeth along its edge which is specially sharpened to a monomolecular edge, allowing its user to easily cut through other NEXTs like a hot knife through butter while its chainsaw like grinding motion and the fact that it's a physical blade enables it to easily trump the Primal Armor defenses of its opponents. The only weakness of this weapon however is its sheer weight which can only be offset if the NEXT equipped with it uses both its hands in wielding the weapon meaning using the chainsword will disable one of the NEXT's weapons in combat. To offer a solution to this problem, Yanagida Industries created a shorter version of the sword that has less than 55% power than the original but enables it to become lightweight enough to allow free use of a second hand. Today, both the long and short versions of the MURASAME chainsword are being offered by Yanagida Industries and both weapons managed to find owners who easily fits them into a variety of combat styles.


	7. A Dance with Dragons

_Special Thanks to AznMagicman, deathmask83, Rigged Bomb, Gkoh, cv snowblind, the renegade soldier and alexkehling for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

* * *

 ***** 6th Episode: A Dance With Dragons*****

"So how's the elf we saved doing Kurokawa?" Itami asks her over at the communications channel of his NEXT.

"She's doing fine Commander." Kurokawa answered "Her vitals are steady so I think she would regain consciousness soon."

"That's good to hear." Itami said in relief "But still, man this sucks."

"Do these people have a destination in mind?" Kurata asks suddenly from the comms.

"Apparently not." Itami muttered in response.

"They don't?" Kurata gasps in surprise

"Nope." Itami sighed "However, one thing I know is that being on the run is exhausting. You could say that they're going to keep running until they know that the fire dragon isn't coming after them, it seems. I guess refugees are the same anywhere you go."

During the slow procession, the caravan ran into a couple of problems when a few of the carts got bogged down when they tried to cross a particularly muddy part of the road while another got its axle broken again due to the stress of carrying its heavy load. Luckily, the first problem was easily solved when the recon group's ACs helped by effortlessly lifting the carts off the mud but the second problem was unfortunately, unsalvageable as they don't have the luxury of time to stop and make repairs to the cart so the elder told the owners to just shoulder what they can lift and burn the cart down as they can't afford to stay for any longer. The owners reluctantly agreed and with much hesitation, they picked the most vital supplies they need from their cart before they torched it to the ground.

After that certain event, the caravan's procession went on to continue as normal as it can for a few hours until…

"Commander! There's someone coming from the road up ahead." Takeru alerted Itami as he saw a faint beep on the radar of his NEXT alerting him that someone is about to approach them. The signal was too small to be a dragon meaning that it's just a person which was a big relief and since there is only one target pinging on Takeru's radar, it means that the person is pretty much alone and unaccompanied by anybody.

Itami turns the glance of his NEXT towards the road up ahead from where the signal was spotted and he zoomed in its view.

"Let's see… Who could that be-A Gothic Lolita girl?!" Itami cried out suddenly in surprise

"Come on bro, don't try to mess with me here." Takeru sighed

"No, I'm serious!" Itami insisted "Just look carefully and zoom in the view of your NEXT!"

Takeru rolled his eyes and did what Itami told but his skepticism was instantly washed away when he saw that Itami was telling the truth.

"Well I'll be damned, it feels like I'm in an anime story or something." Takeru mumbled as he watched the figure of a young girl with long dark hair wearing a black and red Goth loli outfit casually walking towards the convoy from ahead of the road on the screen of his NEXT. However, what really caught Takeru's attention about the girl was the absolutely large battleaxe resting nonchalantly resting on her shoulder. Takeru wondered in bafflement on how the little girl even managed to lift that monstrous weapon as the axe was even bigger than her own height.

"Oh, where do you people come from? Where are you going?" The little girl chuckled and Takeru suddenly felt a slight chill travel down his spine as he felt that something is really wrong with this girl and that was before he noticed that a large flock of crows were strangely trailing her as if they knew that death is following this girl wherever she went.

However, for the children who suddenly burst forth joyfully from the backdoor of the leading APC, their reaction seems to be the opposite of what Takeru has.

"It's the Oracle!" The children cheerfully exclaimed as they dashed towards the mysterious girl "The oracle is here!"

"Oracle?" Itami wondered out loud

"She looks just like a child." Kurokawa commented

"A very creepy child to be exact." Takeru adds as he still couldn't shake off this strange, nagging feeling he have about the mysterious girl even when he saw a bunch of children younger than her assembled around her, eyes full of awe and excitement as if she was some kind of famous celebrity or something.

"Where did you come from little ones?" The strange girl asks the children that gathered around her.

"From Coda Village!" A little boy answered her

"We fled from the village." A nearby wounded villager explained

"There was a fire dragon. We had no choice but to run." Another villager added

The rest of the recon team watched the villagers and their children talk to the girl from either the screens of their NEXTs or from their binoculars.

"They appear to be praying to her." Kurokawa comments

"So that outfit she is wearing is actually religious or something?" Takeru asks her at the comms

Suddenly, the girl finally noticed the strange people accompanying the villagers as well as the 5 towering giants and this caused her interest to spike up as she had never seen such strange looking beings before in her entire long lifetime.

"Interesting." The girl said softly a she licked her lips "Who are these strange people you are traveling with?"

"They are good people!" One of the children answered cheerfully "They saved us!"

"So they did not force you out of your village then?" The girl asks

"Nope!" Another child answered "It was the fire dragon that forced us out of our village."

"I see." The girl smiled before her attention fell back on the metal giants and the strange vehicles the unknown people were riding in.

"How do those things move? And what are those strange, metal creatures may I ask?"

"We don't know." A little girl replied this time "But the inside of those metal carriages are much more comfy than our own carts and those giants are very helpful and friendly!"

"Oh, a comfy ride then?" The girl chuckles, turning her glance towards one of the metal giants before she licks her lips "I would like to see how comfy it is to ride it too."

Itami shifts uncomfortably inside the cockpit of his NEXT as he noticed that the strange girl was actually glancing at his side. It doesn't help that his screen was displaying the creepy, sexual look that she was giving.

"Tachibana, do you think she is looking right at me?" Itami asks uneasily

"Sorry bro but I'm sitting this one out." Takeru replied

 *****Later*****

After letting the strange girl join them, the caravan continued on its journey and it was when the sun has finally set up high in the afternoon that the caravan begins passing through a rocky, desolate area called Roche Hill.

"Man, there is nothing around here but rocks and vultures for miles." Takeru complained

"The elder said that it might be 12 more miles before we can finish crossing this area." Itami informed him through the comms.

"Seriously? Man, I knew that when I got assigned as a private by the boss that this job is gonna be disappointing but it seems I was wrong to think that it can't get any worse-"

 _Beep! Beep! Beep!_

The alarm warnings equipped to the entire recon team's ACs and vehicles suddenly began blaring madly which unexpectedly caught them by surprise as one large red dot can be seen rapidly approaching them on their radar screens.

"Commander Itami! We are detecting a very large object approaching us. By its size alone, it is almost as big as one of our lesser class Arms Forts!" Kurokawa informed him

"As big as an Arms Fort?" Itami gasps in shock "No way! The only thing that big in this world that we have seen would be-"

"The fire dragon." Takeru finishes for him and Itami shudders slightly as even though LYNXs were taught to fight Arms Forts in regular training, no one has actually ever fought one in years besides the ones in the training simulations found at the LYNX Academy founded by the League and ORCA and no one has especially fought a living creature that's almost as big as one.

"C-Commander!" Kurokawa cried out in great alarm "The dragon is headed for the backside of the caravan! The majority of the civilian refugees are located right in that position and if the dragon reaches them-"

"Shit!" Itami swore hard before he quickly began relaying orders to the rest of Recon Team 3.

"Kurokawa! You're in charge of gathering and leading the civilians out from this place into safety! Kuribayashi and Tachibana! You guys are with me! The rest of you, follow Kurokawa's orders and make sure to protect and lead every possible civilian to safety at all costs!"

"ROGER!" Everyone yelled at the same time through the comms.

Entering his NEXT into combat mode, Kuribayashi and Takeru's portraits both popped up at his screen at the same time.

"Commander! What do you want us to do?"

"Ever played Monster Hunter, Kuribayashi?" Itami asks "Cause that's exactly what we are going to do except… with bigger weapons."

The green visor like eyes of Itami's NEXT Kagerou suddenly glowed as its laser blades unfolded in its forearms.

"Well then, let's go hunt a Rathalos shall we?" Takeru joked

 *****XOXOX*****

The fire dragon roared furiously as it flew over the defenseless caravan on its mighty wings, burning both carts and hapless humans with columns of its blazing hot breath.

Countless civilians screamed in pure terror as they either scrambled away or got incinerated into a pile of ashes by the dragon's breath.

One of the refugees, a young boy, was trying to drag his little sister who was trapped under the weight of their collapsed cart just as he felt the ground below his foot shook heavily and he turned behind him and saw that the dragon has practically landed right next to him, its single, undamaged reptilian eye staring directly into his soul while its scaly body basically dwarfs the insignificant little human.

Both the boy and his sister froze deeply in fear as the dragon raised it head up high, its mouth filled with blazing hot flames.

"Tachibana!" Itami shouted to his friend at the comms.

"Right!" Takeru yelled back as he fired two flash rockets from his NEXT Amatsu directly at the dragon's face, blinding its single decent eye for a good while and forcing it to cancel its breath attack as the blindness caused the beast to stumble back in surprise.

"Kuribayashi!" Itami shouted next

"Roger!" Kuribayashi answered as she aimed her bazooka at the dragon's scaly chest.

Pulling her trigger, Kuribayashi scored a direct hit with the rocket fired from her bazooka and the resulting explosion forced the dragon to stumble back even more than it could do before falling flat directly on its back.

With the dragon momentarily helpless in its position, Itami and Takeru's NEXTs, Kagerou and Amatsu, flew in and started hacking and slashing with laser blades installed in the forearms and a short version of Yanagida Industries' infamous MURASAME chainsword respectively while Kuribayashi assists by peppering parts of the dragon with the machinegun of her GA03-SOLARWIND.

The two refugee children watched in amazement as the mighty fire dragon, a creature of terrifying legend and power whose strength and fire allows it to easily dominate the armies of kings, nations and even the Empire itself, is now having its scaly ass handed over to it by just three gigantic beings. From their position, the children could see hundreds of its crimson colored scales swiftly cracking apart and breaking off due to the sheer amount of damage being inflicted upon the dragon's body and with each scale being broken off, its defenses decrease and the soft flesh underneath its armor like scales were now rapidly being exposed.

In a desperate attempt to throw them off, the dragon began flailing very wildly while breathing several columns of flames at the air on the same time. This forced the two NEXTs that were flying and slashing around it to temporarily back away to avoid getting swatted by the dragon's large claws or getting caught by its flames.

Takeru's laughter filled the communications channel before he spoke "Man, I think we made it angry bro!"

"Then let's make it dead instead." Itami replied as both he and Takeru switched to their long ranged weapons just as the fire dragon finally got back onto its feet.

Both Itami and Takeru's NEXTs as well as Kuribayashi's AC began locking on their missiles at the heavily injured target.

By now, the fire dragon was severely wounded as most of its marvelous, crimson scales were now either broken off or heavily cracked while the exposed flesh underneath was filled with immeasurable gaping slash wounds, bullet holes and ironically, 3rd degree burns cause either by the bazooka of Kuribayashi's AC earlier or by the hot laser blades of Itami's NEXT Kagerou. However, despite being classified as a mindless beast, the dragon was actually pretty intelligent and it knew when to flee when the fight is lost due to it having centuries of experience fighting against immeasurable armies and human tactics. On the other hand, the dragon knew that the strange beings won't allow it to escape and would quickly kill it on the spot before it can even managed to take off into the sky so at this moment, it needs a distraction.

The dragon's single eye swiftly scanned the battlefield for anything it can use to distract the three beings and its eye landed directly on the two tiny children nearby who were watching the entire fight this whole time.

The dragon gave the reptilian equivalent of a smirk. Centuries of experience has taught it that even though most creatures it had fought and killed were cold, heartless bastards like itself, the dragon knew that there are still a tiny, foolish few who would stupidly try to protect others from harm. Hoping that the beings in front of it are part of that tiny, foolish few, the dragon begins flapping its extensive, battered wings in order to lift its injured body off of the ground while a large fireball began forming insides its mouth.

"Commander!" Kuribayashi yelled "The dragon is trying to lift itself off the ground!"

"Don't allow it to escape!" Itami commanded

However the dragon finally unleashed the scorching fireball from its mouth and threw it at its targets with a thunderous roar. The two NEXTs weren't particularly worried about the dragon's attack since they noticed that the fireball it threw appeared to be weaker than the ones it had been throwing around earlier and that they were pretty sure that it would be very weak enough to be easily countered by their Primal Armor. Imagine their surprise however when the dragon's fireball merely flew straight pass them at a very far off angle, making them wonder if the dragon was even aiming or not but nonetheless, it was all explained when they noticed that the fireball was headed for a couple of children nearby who are currently frozen in fear at the sight of the scorching fireball headed towards them.

Kuribayashi swore while Itami and Takeru swiftly used their Over Boost in order to overtake the fireball's speed and block the attack using their NEXTs' Primal Armor, acting as personal shields for the two children that were targeted.

The fireball approached and the green wall that is the Primal Armor of Itami and Takeru's NEXTs appeared and easily absorbed the brunt of the devastating inferno.

Seeing that the distraction it made work, the dragon quickly attempted to fly away but unfortunately for the beast, Kuribayashi won't let it go that easily.

"Oh no you don't!" Kuribayashi shouted before she pulled her trigger and unleashed a couple of missiles from her AC.

The dragon saw her attack coming and quickly spun around the air in order to maneuver around her attack. The action it made managed to save the dragon from the first missile which missed and blew off in a separate direction but with the second one, the dragon was not as lucky as the second missile practically manage to catch its left arm, detonating upon connection and blowing it clean off its socket. The dragon screamed in agony at having its arm painfully amputated like that but nevertheless, it chose to ignore the miserable pain emanating from its smoking stump and continued to flap its battered wings in order to recuperate its strength and recover from the embarrassing and painfully miserable defeat it has experienced today at the hands of three, metallic beings it has never before seen in its entire long life.

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **Fire Dragon –** An ancient, powerful beast whose size and strength dwarfs every dragon that the forces of the League and ORCA has ever faced and seen. In the Special Region, this beast was regarded as harbinger of death and destruction due to its extremely destructive behavior and the fact that it only wakes up every hundred years or so from hibernation in order to wreck the entire country side. Recently, this beast has awoken years earlier than its regular schedule which caught many inhabitants of the Special Region by surprise resulting in a very high fatality count in just the few weeks that it has awoken. Its sheer size, strength, flame breath, surprising agility when in the air and tough, armor like scales makes it almost match an Arms Fort when it comes to sheer destructiveness. However, the most surprising thing about them is their intelligence in which the LYNX pilot, Itami Youji reported that it fired upon a couple of helpless civilians in order to use them as a distraction and escape. Currently, there is only one fire dragon known and even though it was reported to have been heavily injured in battle, LYNX pilots were still warned to avoid facing the creature in a one on one fight and instead try to engage it with a well experienced team if they ever encountered it in the Special Region. Strangely enough, Fire Dragon scales fetch for a ludicrously expensive price inside the Special Region and are almost deemed as valuable, if not more, than gold.


	8. Worth It All

_Hell-O there everyone! It's me again and wow! 8 chapters already and I already have a very high following here? Wow. I never really expected my story to be this high. Well I would like to say thank you to everyone of you who supported my story. You people give me the great inspiration to write such things. Moving on with that, I will finally be opening my mini oc contest. I'll just post the format for your ocs on my profile. Now, I'm quite new to be on the receiving end of these oc contests and there might be some details that I might have forgotten to ask on the format. So if I felt I forgot something important to ask, I'll just ask you guys back again if I need any additional info about your ocs. Anyway, enough with this ramble of mine. Let's start the story now already._

 _Special Thanks to Jokun, the renegade soldier and alexkehling for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

 _P.S [This will be an important question for a future chapter] What do you think is more awesome between the two? Aldnoah's Keep on Keeping on or Muv-Luv's Apocalypse of Destiny?_

* * *

 ***** 7th Episode: Worth It All*****

 *****A few days ago*****

 _The smell of both smoke and burning flesh filled the air along with the mighty roars of a ferocious, crimson beast and the screams of its victims which are the inhabitants of the secluded elven village that it is attacking._

 _The Fire Dragon flew around the smoldering treetops of the forest village it has set on fire and constantly threw columns of fire from its mouth at areas housing the most number of victims while dozens of arrow shot forth by the defenders on the ground bounced off its impenetrable armor like scales from time to time._

 _While the dragon is still rampaging, a couple of blonde haired elves were swiftly running through the burning remains of their precious village, paying no close attention to the blistering heat they are feeling in the air nor for the choking smell of the black arid smoke._

 _"Dad!" Tuka cried out_

 _"Not now Tuka! We must hurry before the dragon eventually comes for us!" Tuka's father sternly told his daughter, tightly holding her hand in his grasp as he dragged her to the only place he knows where his daughter can be safe._

 _The sounds of burning trees and buildings collapsing echoed in the air when Tuka and her father finally arrived at the village's local drinking well after which, Tuka's father suddenly scooped her up in his arms and held her over at the well's opening._

 _"Hide here for a while Tuka. You'll be safe inside it." Tuka's father explained to her_

 _"Father, no!" Tuka pleaded "I want to come with you!"_

 _Tuka's father smiled lovingly at his daughter "I'm sorry Tuka… but I can't. I hope that you can forgive me."_

 _Before Tuka can even protest, her father quickly threw her down the well and watched as she disappeared down its inky black darkness._

 _Once he is satisfied that his daughter is safe, he then slowly drew a single arrow from his quiver as he felt the ground shook beneath his feet when the Fire Dragon landed right next to him._

 _Nocking his bow, Tuka's father pointed his arrow directly on the creature's face just as the dragon's mouth began filling up with flames._

 _"This is for us, you bastard." Tuka's father muttered as he released his hold on his bowstring and allowed his arrow to fly true moments before a large burst of flames incinerated him to ashes…_

 *****Back To reality*****

Tuka woke up and shot straight back up in shock from the terrible nightmare that she just had. Her breathing was ragged for a while but she eventually calmed herself down before she noticed where she had woken up in as well as the strange clothes she is wearing now. Apparently, she is inside some kind of vehicle which is quite noticeable with the slight shaking of the metal floor she is lying on top on and the moving images on the very tiny windows. As for the clothes, Tuka feels quite unfamiliar with the fabric she is wearing but strangely, it feels more comfortable and pleasant than the previous clothes she had wore. After contemplating for a while, Tuka then noticed that a couple strange people clad in black and grey uniforms she hadn't seen before were sitting on the metal benches built onto the sides of the vehicle. One of them looks threatening due to the menacing mask he is wearing especially its single, visor like eye but the other soldier who's a female and is not wearing a mask seems very friendly enough and assuring enough unlike her colleague here.

The woman gave her warm smile and cheerfully greeted her up "Morning. It is a good thing that you are awake cause we are almost back at the base."

 *****Meanwhile at a certain village tavern*****

"They drove off a fire dragon?!" A couple of patrons yelled out in surprise and shock

"Indeed!" The female tavern owner confirmed "I saw it myself!"

"Bullshit!" A rather rude man shouted "You don't really expect us to believe that do you?"

"But it's true!" The owner insisted

"Are you sure you weren't knocked out at that time and dreaming?" Another patron asks

At the far end of the tavern, a group of people dressed in regal armor were sitting at their own table and were mindfully listening to the conversation that's happening around them as part of their mission to gather intelligence about the new enemy that has come to oppose the Empire.

"What do you think?" Hamilton Uno Ror asks the others about their opinion to the rumors.

"What do I think?" A knight named Norma replies as he stares at his mug in disgust "The bar is filthy, the drinks are nasty and so is the food."

"Norma, we are on a secret mission to gather intelligence from Alnus Hill." Gray Co Aldo sternly reminded his colleague as he held his mug in his hand "And those people are talking about a Fire Dragon."

"You are all too loud." Pina calmly stated "Hamilton, please keep going."

Hamilton nodded "Right. At this moment, the rumor is spreading like wildfire. A mysterious band of people clad in grey and black colored clothes assisted by towering giants made out of steel, while evacuating the civilians of Coda Village, actually managed to drove off a Fire Dragon without much effort!"

"There are all kinds of dragons." Norma pointed out "From ancient dragons, newborns and winged ones too."

"It was a real Fire Dragon, good sir." The tavern owner suddenly interrupted as she approached their table and began refilling their drinks.

Norma snorted "Hah! You can't fool me."

"But I saw it with my own eyes!" The owner insisted

"Would you please tell us more about the ones who defeated this dragon?" Hamilton asks her

"Oh, hmm. I don't know." The owner mused "You may not even want to hear it-"

"I believe you." Hamilton said as she held out a single gold coin to the woman "Maybe this can help you reconsider-"

The woman swiftly swiped the coin from Hamilton's hand in the blink of an eye and quickly placed it inside her pocket.

"Why thank you very much for believing in me young knight." The owner grinned "Fine then. Let me tell you a special story."

The group of knights carefully lent their ears as the woman began telling her tale.

"When the dragon attacked us that day, they saved us!"

"These people are assisted by towering metal colossuses that are taller than any giant seen in this land and these metal giants seem to possess the ability to fly and wield weapons shaped like an iron cock while they on the other hand seem to wield strange staffs that fire a mysterious bolt of energy! They ride in mighty, unyielding metal wagons and were all dressed in grey and black."

 *****Alnus Base*****

"So Schneider got angry with you?" Takeru asks in wonder to his friend as they walked down the corridor of the base's command center "I don't get it. Why would that old coot be furious with you? We only saved a bunch of civilians from a Godzilla reject."

Itami sighed "Schneider is angry cause we took them in without asking permission from him and the added fact that what we did is totally unnecessary and unrelated to our mission."

Takeru snorted "Unnecessary? Since when is saving lives unnecessary? Come on, that is the only thing separating us from the likes of Vermillions and her kind."

"My kind? What's wrong with my kind Private Tachibana?" A sultry feminine voice asked as Itami and Takeru suddenly walked into Kagari Vermillions herself in the corridor.

"Vermillions." Takeru growled "If you are just going to spout some of your sick fantasies to us, then I suggest you continue walking on your way if you know what's good for you."

"Good for me?" Kagari chuckled as she brought herself closer to Takeru's face in order to see his irritated expression even more clearly as she is secretly amused by it. "Why, are you going to hurt me Private Tachibana? You do know that I'm temporarily your superior here right? That gives me the right to reprimand you for the actions you gave just now. Maybe we should discuss your punishment somewhere a bit more… 'private', perhaps?"

Takeru gave her a look of disgust and revulsion while Itami's eyes grew wide.

"Uh Tachibana, did she just flirted with you?"

"Bro, please don't say that." Takeru groaned "It makes me feel like I'm one of her sick fantasies except worse!"

Kagari giggled "Worse? Or better?"

"Bite me Vermillions." Takeru snapped but his retort only made Kagari giggle even more.

Itami buried his face in his palm "Tachibana, that is not most ideal comeback to say in this situation."

A wave of realization struck Takeru as he realized what he just said.

"Oh son of a… " Takeru swore and Kagari let out a small burst of laughter.

Itami sighed in embarrassment as he watched the two LYNX pilots in their dispute when an officer suddenly appeared in the hallway and began approaching him.

"Itami Youji?" The officer asks

"Yeah, that's me. Why?"

The officer clears his throat "One of the top brass wants you to meet him at his office ASAP."

"Is this about the refugees we brought in?" Itami asks "I thought I already told Schneider about-"

"No sir." The officer interrupts "It's not about that. He didn't told me anything else other than he wants you to meet him in his office."

Itami sighs "Fine. Who's the one calling me by the way?"

"It's CEO Akira Yanagida of Yanagida Industries, sir." The officer replied

Itami's eyes grew wide while Takeru and Kagari stopped fighting with each other upon hearing who's summoning Itami.

"Akira Yanagida?" Takeru blurted out loud in surprise " _The_ Akira Yanagida? The CEO of Yanagida Industries himself?"

"What does the big cheese of a well known corporation want with me? I didn't piss him off with my actions too right?" Itami asks

The officer shrugged "Like I said, he didn't told me about anything else besides wanting you to meet with him immediately."

The officer then turned behind and left to perform his other duties, leaving Itami wondering what sort of reprimanding lecture he would face from a head honcho of a major corporation.

"Well it seems I have all the good luck in the world." Itami mumbled sarcastically before turning his attention back to his friend and saying "Hey Tachibana! If I don't come back, you better keep your hands off my doujin or else there will be hell to pay."

"Don't worry! I'm too busy facing the devil's bitch here to even think about it." Takeru sneered as he and Kagari resumed glaring daggers back at each other.

"If you say so. Hope you two have fun with each other then." Itami said casually before he left the two antagonistic LYNXs alone with each other.

"Heard that Private Tachibana? He told us to have _fun_." Kagari chuckled

"I'm so going to rip your face off with my teeth." Takeru growled threateningly

Kagari smirked "As much as a kiss from you might sound tempting, how's about I suggest of an activity that's a bit more… 'physical' instead."

"You sick, twisted bitch." Takeru snarled "There's no way in hell that we'll-"

"I meant the other kind of physical activity moron." Kagari corrected "I suggest we settle our differences with each other on a rather… friendly duel at the training arena. How does that sound well for you Private? Want to take a shot at your own superior?"

"Taking a shot? Oh, I won't just take a shot at you Vermillions. I'll annihilate you right on the spot." Takeru sneered "You won't believe how long I've been waiting for a chance to wipe that psychotic grin off your face."

"Oh, is that so?" Kagari smirked smugly "I guess it's not just me who's having fantasies around here."

"Just shut up already Vermillions so that I can kick your ass right now."

Kagari mused "Fine. Have it your way. But be careful Private because I'm _hot_. You wouldn't want to risk your hands getting burnt badly by touching my ass right?"

"The only one who's getting burned badly around here will be you Vermillions. After I'm done wiping the entire training arena with your face." Takeru sneered

 *****Meanwhile*****

The door swung open slowly as Itami respectfully greeted the occupants of the room first before entering. However, he was extremely surprised when he saw not only the CEO of Yanagida Industries himself sitting at one of the comfy armchairs gathered around a large glass coffee table but also Thermidor himself and both of them seem to be sharing a bottle of rather expensive scotch together when they finally noticed him arriving.

"Itami Youji, please sit with us." Yanagida insisted and Itami did as he was told before Thermidor offered him some of the expensive scotch they were drinking and asks if he wants some to which Itami politely declined as he doesn't drink too much.

"Itami Youji," Thermidor spoke up "I have worked with your father many times before during the Economic War and after that. Believe me when I say that you are starting to resemble your father when it comes to your actions and decisions."

"What do you mean sir?" Itami asks

"Come on, you know what I mean." Thermidor said "The refugees your team saved. Your mission puts your team in no position to help such people especially when that dragon attacked them and you could have pulled your team away to avoid any casualties within your group and leave these civilians to their fate since you are not bound by any obligation to protect them but you didn't. I want to know why."

"It is the job of a soldier sir. To protect the weak from-"

"Don't lie to us Mr. Youji." Yanagida said "The job of every soldier and LYNX is to serve and uphold the interests of either the League or ORCA. It is not in their job to actually protect the people themselves. When the comms of your team suddenly went down minutes before your fight with the dragon, it has got me thinking. Did you deliberately shut them off so that you won't receive an order to abandon those civilians?"

"Well sir," Itami began to explain as he started scratching his head "there could be a number of reasons our comms refused to be functioning right? From long distance, electrical disturbances, wind direction-"

"Itami Youji, you are just as bad as your father when it comes to lying." Thermidor said

"Listen to us Mr. Youji." Yanagida began "This Special Region, it's an absolute paradise to us and it's a beautiful treasure trove full of vast, untapped natural resources for us to exploit. It is large, clean, inhabitable and unpolluted enough to house millions of our people who are now starting to feel the effects of overpopulation back in our own world after nearly 3 decades of peace. The numerous amount of natural deposits of minerals and fuel we are discovering in the lands we just secured are staggering and could even turn the entire economy of the League itself upside down. Our civilization is very… advance. Conquering this entire world will take only a single month or even a week once our war factories are online and start producing the Arms Forts we need to crush them completely under our heels. You saw how an entire army of theirs that's over 120,000 fared well against ours. In fact, we might not even need to use our Arms Forts at all and we could just fly in a single squad of NEXTs to their capital and have that squad burn their entire leadership to the ground, destabilizing their entire forces."

"That sounds like something Surtr Squad would like to do." Itami commented

"Indeed. Though most of us detest a lot of what Surtr Squad does, you can't say that their methods are not actually very effective against the enemy." Thermidor said

"However," Yanagida adds "with the wonderful discovery of this world, there are consequences."

"Consequences?" Itami asks

Thermidor nodded his head "You see my friend, with the discovery of this world, many people in both the League and ORCA have instantly became interested with it and both have sent their personnel to secure vast areas holding large amounts of resources in order for them to utilize it and exploit it for either their goals for profit or power. With this in mind, the other independent corporations began to make their move as well as some single, influential individuals."

"Like yourself?"

Thermidor smiled "Yes. I won't lie, this world… it just holds too much potential to help mankind ascend even further up on the ladder. However, this world can even become the cause of a war greater than both the Economic Wars and the LYNX Wars combined. Both the League and I knew that we have the same goals for this world but that only one of us can truly come out on the top. Many of the independents are now starting to form alliances with either each other or with the League itself but some have also chosen us."

Yanagida smiled as he tilted the glasses on his face. "Guilty as charged. However, there is still one more question that I want to ask from you Mr. Youji."

"And what would it be sir?" Itami asks

"Will it all be worth it… to start a war in the future?"

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****NEXT Profiles*****

 **NEXT Name:** Kagerou

Piloted by: Itami Youji

Created with parts mostly from Rayleonard with a few borrowed from Rosenthal's TYPE-LANCEL series model, Kagerou is a blue and silver colored middleweight class biped NEXT with very discernible agility that allows it to even catch up with some of the other corporation's lightweight based NEXTs. Unlike most other NEXTs, Kagerou's weapons are fairly rotated on a daily basis, changing each time Itami is assigned to another new mission mostly to test out other kinds of fighting styles. Combined with its jack of all stats traits, this makes Kagerou highly adaptable to any mission role where it can be assigned to either as an artillery support, high speed striker or a frontline combatant. Regularly, Kagerou is always equipped with a pair of laser blades that were built into its forearms as well as two handguns equipped into its hanger bays. The rest of its weapons depend on what Itami has equipped beforehand.

 **NEXT Name:** Amatsu

Piloted by: Takeru Tachibana

Based mostly on the design of Omer Science's TYPE-LAHIRE production model, Amatsu is a fast, black and yellow colored lightweight biped NEXT designed to excel in melee combat at high speeds. Flash rockets are equipped in its shoulders which are used to disable its opponent momentarily by blinding them temporarily with the bright flash of light it creates before Amatsu can dash to them and cut them up using the short chainsword it is equipped with while its assault rifle keeps its opponent even more distracted for a brief moment. The two vertical launch missiles on its back are used if it can't close the distance between it and its opponent. With its lightweight built, Amatsu's defenses are sacrificed in return for high speed and mobility on the battlefield making it require support on the battlefield against stronger, armored opponents.

 **NEXT Name:** Kagutsuchi

Piloted by: Kagari Vermilions

Made with the best parts from Interior Union, Kagutsuchi is an exceptionally fast, crimson colored biped NEXT model with hard hitting power. It is equipped with two of Yanagida Industries' infamous weapons, the short version of the MURASAME chainsword and Yanagida's deadly plasma flamethrower. The combination of the two weapons ensures that Kagutsuchi can easily breakthrough the Primal Armor defenses of its opponents if they proved to be too careless while the twin scattermissile launchers equipped to its back makes Kagutsuchi even harder to evade from afar. Its shoulder unit is a anti-missile system that fires multiple flares into the sky to misdirect enemy missiles. However, despite being well rounded in terms of speed and power, Kagutsuchi is still a lightweight NEXT and it is severely lacking in terms of its defense and a single well placed shot can severely cripple it's movements.


	9. Plans for the Future

_Special Thanks to AznMagicman, Guest, Brenden, the renegade soldier, WriterAdam and Rigged Bomb for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

* * *

 ***** 8th Episode: Plans for the Future*****

"Hahaha! Is that all you can do Private?! Swinging your sword wildly at me like some undisciplined savage?!" Kagari laughed as her NEXT nimbly dodged the furious swipes of Amatsu's chainsword, easily predicting each slash and thrust as if Kagari could read the future itself before she backs her NEXT swiftly for distance and fires a volley of micromissiles at Takeru's NEXT.

"Just watch me bitch!" Takeru snarled as he fortunately dodged Kagari's micromissiles before returning fire with his assault rifle.

Both NEXTs seem equal in speed with similarly analogous strategies against each other. Both will try to move in against each other, seemingly to attack with their short ranged weapons before backing down at the last second to fire their missiles at each other or they would try distracting each other with continuous fire from their secondary weapons so that they can come in close with the chainswords they use to finish the other off.

"Oh, feisty there! I just like it when my food screams while I cook them raw!" Kagari laughed as she unleashed a large burst of white hot flames from her flamethrower and Takeru's Primal Armor instantly light up in order to protect his NEXT from Kagari's flames.

"Ack! The bitch!" Takeru swore as he tried backing away from the flames which are rapidly eating away the energy gauge of his Primal Armor but Kagari kept on following him while her demonic flamethrower keeps on spewing its flames to prevent him from closing in on her with his chainsword.

Takeru really hated fighting against people who use flamethrowers as they always use them to prevent him from dashing in by creating a wall of fire that's absolutely impossible to cross unless you are interested in getting cooked like some kind of Christmas turkey. He knew his missiles won't work well at her from a far range due to the anti-missile system implemented in Kagari's NEXT. However, he still has a plan up his sleeve. A stupid one perhaps but one that might work nonetheless.

Revving up his chainsword to maximum, Takeru dashed forward towards the awaiting wall of flames Kagutsuchi's flamethrower was generating. At first, Kagari was a bit surprised and a little bit amused as she thought Takeru was about to launch a suicidal attack on her but she didn't count on him stopping at the last moment before throwing his chainsword at her like a spear which totally caught Kagari offguard.

Kagari quickly dodge the thrown chainsword, only to find two flash rockets that were ready to greet her in her path and she realized that Takeru has planned this from the start as he knew that she can easily dodge the chainsword that he has thrown so he decided to plan accordingly and set two flash rockets flying into the direction Takeru was sure that she will dodge into.

The two flash rockets exploded in Kagutsuchi's face, blinding the pilot inside momentarily and Takeru dashes in, grabs his thrown chainsword from the ground and raises it to finish Kagari off.

However, what Takeru doesn't know was that Kagari was still smirking inside the cockpit of her NEXT despite being momentarily blinded herself.

" _I can still feel you…"_ Kagari sang softly and in a twist of unexpected events, Kagutsuchi dexterously dodges Amatsu's slash with such supernatural agility that Takeru's has never seen before, causing him to wonder in bafflement on how Kagari could possess such inhuman reflexes.

"Nighty-night!" Kagari cackled as Kagutsuchi swung its own chainsword this time at Takeru's NEXT several times in the space of a few seconds, Amatsu's Primal Armor collapsing after the first three slashes before the rest of the swings cut off its arm and its legs, making Amatsu collapse down to the ground hard.

Takeru cursed loudly within his cockpit before he tried to order Amatsu's remaining arm to fire its assault rifle at Kagari's NEXT but unfortunately for Takeru, Kagutsuchi's chainsword quickly buried itself inside Amatsu's shoulder and effectively pinned the now helpless NEXT to the ground.

Placing the barrel of Kagutsuchi's flamethrower directly on Amatsu's cockpit, Kagari smirked before she pulls the trigger.

"Sorry Private but it seems you're the one who got burned this time round."

The white hot inferno erupted from the flamethrower's barrel and begins consuming the cockpit of Amatsu's pilot while the psychotic laugh of Kagari echoes in the background.

 *****Back to reality*****

Takeru shot straight up, gasping and in shock as he finally woke up from the training simulation dream he and Kagari were placed in.

Removing his simulation helmet before he slowly steps out from his pod, Takeru could feel his heart hammering loudly as he could still feel the flames from Kagari's flamethrower licking at the back of his skin.

"Man, that bitch is a damn psycho." Takeru muttered "It feels like she enjoys killing people as much as she enjoys sex!"

"Not true actually." Kagari chuckles and Takeru could see her climbing out of her own training simulation pod. "I actually enjoy killing others more than loving them. Sure, that activity is fun but hearing somebody scream for their life is better than hearing someone scream your name in release."

"You seriously need some help with your mental issues." Takeru remarked

Kagari rolled her eyes "Oh please, are you my psychologist now? Talk to someone who cares darling. Now, I would like to stay and chat but I have business to attend to Private as well as people to kill so, duty calls. Ciao!"

Takeru watched as Kagari left for the hallway, leaving him thinking if there is something more to this woman than meets the eye and that he has to be a lot more careful when dealing with her in the future.

 *****XOXOX*****

Itami frowned "And if it is?"

Yanagida smiled "In old world politics, the country with the most assets wins every debate. That notion is not that far from our current standing. This might be an extreme example but if controlling the majority of the Special Region will give whoever who possess it the most assets then…"

"They are considered the most powerful group in existence." Itami finished for him.

Thermidor nodded "Exactly, which is why we can make a choice like that even though it may make a repeat of the previous wars that we have faced."

"Mr. Yanagida, Thermidor sir, why are you two telling me this?" Itami asks "All I ever did was saved a bunch of villagers from a rampaging beast and bring them back here as refugees."

"Itami Youji, have you ever heard how peace between ORCA and the League has been achived?" Thermidors questions him

"Sort of." Itami said as he rubbed the scalp of his head "The details are kinda hazy at best."

"Peace came because the people themselves willed it." Thermidor said

"Huh?"

Thermidor cleared his throat as he began to explain "When over 40 million people died needlessly after two Cradles were fired upon by several hundred Assault Cells that were hacked by two of our… traitorous associates, thousands of riots instantly sprang up the following day and demanded that the League face the growing problems that were plaguing humanity as well as the shadow of imminent extinction that was just lurking below it. Many people began supporting our side and dozens of corporations that were secretly sponsoring us in the shadows suddenly stepped forth and announced their open support. Thousands of the League's employees as well as a few of their LYNXs left their employment and joined their friends and families in the riots that ensured until finally, the League can't take the pressure any longer and were forced to listen to the demands of the people."

Yanagida tilts his glasses "In short words, it's not actually the power of corporations or governments keeping a civilization moving. It is its people. And if we manage to control the hearts of this world's people then think of the advantage that this could bring."

Thermidor nods in agreement. "He's right, Itami Youji. Think about it. You built a relationship of trust with the people of this land. You are the person currently closest to our greatest source of information at hand. At this moment, you have become one of our most vital assets in this region."

"I am?" Itami asks

"Indeed." Yanagida confirmed "Because of that, we are now agreeing on allowing the refugees you brought back to stay as much as they like on the base and currently, we are having a group of Normals and MTs construct a semi-permanent living quarters for the refugees to stay in. What's more, in a few days we are now planning to give you a great amount of freedom to do as you please. However, we are hoping that you will plan to put that freedom to good use to further our… 'interests', so as to speak."

"Really? That seems a lot to take on." Itami said

Yanagida smiled "Don't worry; we'll give you the time to adjust. In the meanwhile, we'll have you assigned to your regular duties but other than that, we hope that you perform exceptionally well in your job. That is all you need to now. You are now dismissed."

Itami gave the two a respectful salute before he began leaving for the door but just as his hand reached for the knob, he heard Thermidor yell from behind his back.

"And tell your father by the way that I said hi. That man almost never talks much."

"Sure. I'll keep that in mind." Itami replied before he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

 *****XOXOX*****

Several construction type Normals were loudly making a sound as their excavator like arms were slowly digging up the dirt and upturning the soil in order to pave the area ready for construction, their tank like threads rumbling on the ground while several MTs were walking around and lifting the heavy supplies needed to create the settlement.

Lelei watched in amazement and fascination at the thought that these imposing creatures are actually being commanded to build living shelters for them.

While she was busy observing, Lelei was approached by her master and was asked what is going around the place.

"It seems they are building houses for us." Lelei replied as a towering two legged MT passed by her, carrying a large amount of construction supplies in its arms.

"Well that's good." Cato huffed as he turned and began to walk around "That means we can finally get our stuff out of the carriage. I'm just going to take a little nap for a while. This whole thing is just nuts."

After her master just left, Lelei turned her glance around and noticed the female elf staring at one of the imposing machines, her eyes seemingly in a trance.

Approaching the elf, Lelei asked her what's wrong and the elf simply smiled at her and said "No. Nothing's wrong. It's just that when my dad learns he missed seeing something like this, I'm sure he'll be disappointed. I'll have to tell him about it later."

Lelei wondered what the female elf was talking about since she was the only elf that Lelei knows survived the attack by the fire dragon on the elf's village when suddenly, a couple of soldiers approached them both and told them to move away from the area as it is still too dangerous for civilians.

Lelei however, was a little bit puzzled at what the soldiers said since she can't understand their language yet when all of a sudden, a delicious, mouthwatering aroma of smell wafted under her nostrils and she turned her glance around to find out where the smell is coming before she began following it to its source.

At the makeshift kitchen the soldiers has set up, many men and women who have volunteered to help were busy cutting up and preparing the ingredients needed to make the refugees' meal.

Though many of the people who volunteered for the kitchen duty are sincere about helping, others were actually assigned there as punishment for goofing off and unfortunately, the punishment did nothing to curb away their immaturity.

"Hey lieutenant! Check this out! I learned this from some anime I watched!" Private 1st Class Dmitri Sokolov cheerfully yelled out from inside the cockpit of his TYPE-DULAKE AC to his acting superior, 2nd Lieutenant Alexandra Pavlova, as he piloted his AC while it is spinning a gigantic glob of pizza dough in its arms before throwing it in the air and catching it again like some kind of professional Italian pizza chef "Look here! I'm an innovator! Woo-hoo!"

"Sokolov! Stop fooling around this instant and get down from that AC!" Lieutenant Pavlova barked at him, her icy blue eyes glaring hard at Sokolov's AC.

"Actually, his idea is not quite bad." Pavlova's own superior, Captain Giacomo Carozza mused from beside her "Even my former fellow countrymen never had the thought of using an AC to make pizzas before."

"Captain! Are you seriously letting him off on his foolishness here?" Lieutenant Pavlova asks incredulously

"Let him be for the while Lieutenant." Captain Carozza said "Besides, I think Private Sokolov's idea might actually prove to be very efficient in making our jobs here easier."

"I-oh well. If that is your wish, captain." Pavlova sighed as she relented before she simply resumed her duties of supervision over the rest of the volunteers.

At a corner of the makeshift kitchen, one group of volunteers were peeling apart various kinds of vegetables ranging from carrots, daikon radishes, regular and sweet potatoes and more as well as opening apart various cans containing broth and cream, all of which are to be used in making the meals that will feed the refugees.

Lelei suddenly appeared near the food preparation area, drawn in by the smell of the food they were cooking and one of the volunteers, a young woman with light brown skin, noticed her and greeted her warmly.

"Oh, kamusta!" The woman cheerfully greeted Lelei as she was peeling a strange root vegetable with an unusual orange colored flesh that Lelei has never seen before.

The woman noticed Lelei staring at the sweet potato she is peeling and she took care to explain Lelei what it is.

"Kamote. Sweet potato." The woman cheerfully explained

"Kamote. Sweet potato." Lelei repeated before she began looking around the rest of the food preparation area and her eyes fell on a couple more vegetable that's unfamiliar to her that are being peeled by a couple of soldiers.

The two soldiers saw Lelei looking at the vegetables they are peeling and like the friendly woman Lelei met before, they too graciously explained to her what these are.

"Taro." A dark skinned man pointed to the vegetable he is holding that looks similar to a sweet potato in appearance except with the course, hairy texture.

"Taro." Lelei absentmindedly repeated

His companion on the other hand, a woman that looks similar to the people Lelei first met, showed her the vegetable that looks like a large, white colored carrot in terms of appearance.

"Daikon radish. Daikon" The woman explained

"Daikon." Lelei repeated again

The woman smiled "Right."

 *****XOXOX*****

Later on after the team began serving the meals, the refugees were ordered by Lieutenant Pavlova to form a straight line so that they would get served properly. The refugees manage to do as they were told and were able to form a proper line without much fuss before each were served their meal which consisted of some vegetable soup, a small slice from the gigantic pizza Sokolov's AC created and a few chips made from either sweet potatoes or taro.

After each refugee got their plates served full, they began to dig in after Itami, who was brought in as a translator, told them that it is now okay to do so and not one moment after taking a bite, each refugee instantly felt the deliciousness and savory texture of the food they are eating playing in their tongues. The flavors from the soup, the pizza and the chips were something they haven't felt before in their entire lives and the flavors they felt from what they were used to eating felt nothing when compared to sweet and salty flavor of the sweet potato and taro chips, the creamy texture of the soup or the cheesy, savory taste of the pizza they were eating now.

While the other refugees were happily consuming the heavenly food that was gifted to them by the gods themselves, Lelei hasn't still even touched her food and instead had her eyes closed and hands clasped together as if in prayer. When her master asked her what she was doing, Lelei simply replied to him that she saw some of the soldiers do this before eating as a sign of respect and manners during meals.

 *****Meanwhile*****

Staring hard at the images and words displayed at his computer, a rather bald, middle aged man in a crisp business suit thought hard on how to take all of this information in as the possibilities and potentials present in this so-called Special Region are practically endless considering that it is full of untapped natural resources and a fresh, unpolluted environment perfect for growing population. But what really interest the man was the existence of a something that's so-called 'magic' as well as the existence of beings both sapient and animal that seem to come out from some kind of fantasy RPG this century's youths are playing now.

The number of benefits and progresses his company could obtain from the region were practically staggering and the man could almost feel his mouth watering however, he knew that it would pretty much be a long shot if not, downright impossible for his corporation to obtain a foothold in the region knowing that both the League and ORCA are planning the same thing as him and both have more assets than both him and all the other independents combined. For him to secure a holding on that region, he needs to ally himself with either the two but that action itself is far too risky knowing how devious and manipulative the two organizations are.

Sensing that he has no other choice left, the man paged in his secretary on the phone.

"Nisha. Is Hustler Zero ready?" The man asks

 _"Negative sir. It would take a few more months perhaps before we finish perfecting its programming."_ The secretary replied

The man contemplates for a while before he said "Very well. Make sure to finish it up on schedule. We can't afford to lose time around here."

 _"As you wish sir."_ The secretary replied

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **Muscle Tracers** – Muscle Tracers or MTs for short, were originally created to be efficient self automated mechanized work units designed to lift heavy loads and function for extended periods of time. Over time however, Muscle Tracers slowly evolve over their simple tasks of simply lifting heavy objects and construction to fighting on battlefields and engaging in advanced warfare. Eventually, this development led to the creation of Normal ACS and ultimately, NEXTs making the MTs the predecessors of all currently existing NEXTs and Normal ACs. In the current age, MTs are still being used due to being extremely cheaper than Normals and by extension, NEXTs as well as their relative ease in being mass produced. Besides their original purposes in construction and lifting, MTs are now being used as additional security forces by both the League and ORCA as well as being used as highly expendable troops in terms of hostile engagements and confrontations.


	10. Towards Italica

_Special Thanks to Jokun, the renegade soldier, GKoh, Lone Gundam, alexkehling and Rigged Bomb for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

* * *

 ***** 9th Episode: Towards Italica*****

"King Duran…" Princess Pina softly calls out to the heavily injured man who is lying on the single bed inside the room she has entered.

The injured man, Duran turned his glance towards the source of her voice and frowned. His own body was a mess and filled with numerous cuts, bruises, lacerations, burns and not to mention, an entire amputated leg and arm, that is was a miracle that he was even alive at this point. His entire hair has even gone white from the experience and right now, his entire body was helplessly racked with an almost unbearable kind of pain that Duran himself couldn't describe.

"Princess Pina? What brings you here?" Duran asks as he tried his best to ignore the excruciating pain he is feeling from his wounds.

"When I was searching information about Alnus," Pina explained "I heard that a man from high birth was recuperating from his wounds here."

"Information?" Duran quietly asks "You don't know what happened at Alnus Hill did you?"

Pina took a step back as Duran suddenly began shouting angrily at her.

"You haven't heard anything about the battle?! About what happened to the Allied Kingdoms' armies?! Or perhaps you only heard about the edited rumors about it? About how like the grains of porridge, the corpses of our soldiers and the kings of Alguna and Mudwan were smashed into the ground?"

"Th… The two kings?... Impossible…" Pina faltered

"It's not just that…" Duran continued "Three times we went for an all out attack… and we never even made it to halfway uphill. Concealed explosions that came from beneath the ground as if from Hardy herself, lightning that rains down upon our men, blowing them apart followed by demonic, metal giants that fell from the heavens themselves as if to punish us all before burning us all with the flames they spew… We never stood a chance. We never did. The Allied Armies were easily annihilated… and those that survived have all fled for their lives…"

The princess stared at the injured king in shock at what he said before he carries on with his tale.

"Think about it princess, the Empire has suffered a massive defeat from this enemy before us yet the Emperor still summoned the army of the kingdoms that are allied with it and sent them all to fight against this fearsome enemy to whom they got slaughtered by. The Emperor knew this would happen so why did he even have to call us in the first place if he knows we can never defeat them?"

"There must be some misunderstanding here," Pina began "Surely the Emperor won't-"

"The Emperor just did!" Duran snapped at her "When he sent us to the enemy, it isn't to fight them! It is to be killed by them! He sent us to die by the enemy's hands because he knows we are a potential threat to the Empire!"

Princess Pina quickly approached and kneeled by Duran's bedside and hesitantly said "I-I am aware that the Imperial Army was defeated beforehand , but…"

"Princess…" Duran began while he turns his glance away from her "The Allied Armies fought at the very end against the enemy in front of them but what they neglect to notice was the enemy behind them. The true one…"

"The true one?" Pina asks

"Don't you understand?" Duran asked back as whipped his glance back to look at her directly in the eyes. "The Empire! The Empire was our true enemy!"

Pina's eye grew wide in shock as she was taken aback by Duran's words before she began gripping the bedsheets hard and pleaded "Your Highness! At least tell me more about what kind of people the Empire is facing! I need to know for later battles-"

"I won't tell you anything else." Duran huffed "After what the Empire did to us, I could care less if the enemy butchered them like they did to us. If you want to know, then go to Alnus Hill yourself."

Pina's eyes suddenly hardened and her tone of voice changed deeply as she glared dangerously at the injured king.

"I can't allow that. If you decide to leave for the afterlife before saying anything to me your Highness, your own kingdom, Elbe, shall burn to the ground before your own citizens."

Duran chuckled as he could start seeing the resemblance Pina has with her father "If that's the case, then me and the rest of my kingdom can happily depart to the lands of Hardy herself knowing that the entire Empire will soon follow us after the enemy burns them down too. Hahaha!"

Pina grits her teeth as she stood up and began walking towards the door, saying "The Empire, won't lose."

Duran smirked "If you want to throw more of your soldiers' bodies to their fire then fine by me. But let me tell you Princess, the enemies on Alnus Hill are an army comparable to the gods! And you and your Empire summoned this enemy and by every reason, deserve to fall by their hands!"

Duran began laughing madly as his attendants quickly approached his side while Pina continues to leave the room which is filled with Duran's mad, hysterical laughter.

Outside the building where Duran was staying, Hamilton and the rest of the knights attending Pina were just about to finish packing their supplies when they saw Pina approaching them from the building she just left.

"Princess, you are not going to tell us to charge the Hill all by ourselves right?" Hamilton asks

"Don't worry. I'm not that stupid." Pina replied "But either way, we need to go to Alnus. Norma, tell the main unit to move out and Gray, what's up ahead?"

"The city of Italica lies just between us and Alnus, Princess." Gray answered

 *****Meanwhile*****

"So we are not going to tell him about it yet?" Thermidor asks Yanagida as he pours another round of scotch into both of their glasses

"As of this moment, no. Not yet." Yanagida replied "However as of now, Shiro Kamui is acting as the coalition's spokesperson for the events that transpired and I have confidence in him that he will be able to keep those vultures at bay for a while longer."

"Even though he is a famous legend during the war, I doubt he can keep those leeches from the Vox Populi party away from our activities forever." Thermidor said "Sooner or later, they will know what is happening around here and it won't be long before they try using it to their advantage during the elections."

"The rest of the other corporations and the League itself won't support Adams and his party during the elections. None of them are stupid enough to do so." Yanagida points out

Thermidor shakes his head slightly "That hasn't stopped them from winning at least 4 seats in government during the last one. They are quite popular with the masses like they say."

"Unfortunately, you're right." Yanagida agrees "According to our statistics, the percent of their supporters seems to be rising slowly over the years due to the growing problems of poverty and overpopulation our civilization is currently facing. If this keeps going up, they might win more than just 4 seats in the next election. Taking them down both directly and discreetly is… out of the question."

"The wonders of politics and democracy." Thermidor mutters before he drank down his scotch.

"It seems your plan for humanity regaining its former glory has gone horribly right." Yanagida said as he tilts his glasses

"Ironically indeed." Thermidor agreed "Though it is still a lot better than facing extinction itself. By the way, I heard that the League has finally agreed on the name we have chosen for the task force group we have created."

"Indeed." Yanagida confirmed "After a couple of debates, the League has agreed on the name we have chosen for the coalition we have created. As of now, we will now be formally known as the United Corporate Alliance or UCA for short."

"United Corporate Alliance." Thermidor mused "It's funny how ORCA used to oppose the corporations years ago and now it is part of a coalition that explicitly calls itself an alliance of corporations."

"Technically, ORCA has been recognized as an honorary corporation itself by the League and the other independents after forming that truce." Yanagida explained

"Now I feel like a hypocrite myself." Thermidor muttered

"Didn't you once played both sides in the conflict before, Thermidor?" Yanagida points out

"Fair enough." Thermidor admitted "Though I only did it because I have not much of a choice in the matter."

"Maybe." Yanagida mumbles "But if things come to shove, do you think that our plans won't be used against us by Adams and his ilk?"

Thermidor smiled "Don't worry. The Vox Populi may hold the hearts of the people back in our world but in here, we are the ones holding all the cards."

 *****XOXOX*****

"This place is pretty impressive isn't it?" Rory asks Tuka as both of them sat at a table that's set up right next to some of the newly constructed living quarters for the refugees. "The UCA said that it's only a semi-permanent shelter."

"But there's plenty of food and a bath." Tuka points out "It's actually a lot nicer than living in the forest. But…"

"Is there a problem?" Rory asks

"We'll have to provide for ourselves eventually." Tuka explains uneasily "And I really don't know how. If worst comes to worst, we might have to sell ourselves to-"

"Sell yourselves to who young lady? To us?" A female voice spoke out from behind Tuka and she glanced around and saw a young woman with short white hair and pale skin, glaring at her deeply with her icy blue eyes. Her uniform seems to be very official, perhaps high ranked and is colored a lighter shade of gray than the uniform of the regular troops Tuka has seen.

"What's your name dear?" The woman asks

"T-Tuka. Tuka Luna Marceau." Tuka nervously replied

The woman smiled "Tuka. Such a nice name. I'm 2nd Lieutenant Alexandra Pavlova by the way. Tell me Tuka, what makes you think of such a horrendous action to do? Even the corporations themselves haven't stoop to such a low level of trade."

"B-But, selling yourself in exchange for services is quite common around here and-"

"My dear," Lieutenant Pavlova interrupted "Our society's leaders profit from warfare, not slavery and prostitution. I can understand, though that doesn't mean I approve, that it is quite common here in this uncivilized land but in our world, prostitution is illegal beyond any recognition. Even some low lives I know back home wouldn't stoop to such disgrace."

"But, what do you suggest we do?" Tuka asks

Lieutenant Pavlova smiled "I think I may have the solution to that. Follow me."

 *****XOXOX*****

"Are those all… corpses? Of winged dragons?" Tuka asks in astonishment as she and Rory were led into a large warehouse building filled with stacks and stacks of winged dragon corpses, their bodies already starting to smell a little bit due to decomposition.

"Indeed." Lieutenant Pavlova confirmed "We retrieved every dragon corpse that fell on that battle that day as our resident eggheads are practically interested in studying them. Now, these corpses are all extra specimens that our scientists don't need for their studies and we practically have no idea what to do with them. We also have this in mind too."

Snapping her fingers, a large light was flashed at the corner of the warehouse and Tuka's eyes grew wide at the thing she just saw.

It was the large, dismembered arm of the Fire Dragon Itami's team has faced and defeated in battle and it was just idly hanging in the air above the warehouse's floor, supported by thick steel cables and beams strong enough to lift its weight.

"It's not just that." Lieutenant Pavlova adds "We also retrieved an entire truckload worth of that beast's scales from that battle and from what I heard from the locals, dragon scales are actually worth a lot of their weight in gold, especially the ones from what you call a Fire Dragon and seeing that our scientists already have enough specimens to study on their tables, I can see no reason why we shouldn't give their scales to you and to the other refugees so that you can sell these to provide yourselves with your basic needs. You can take all that you want. We are not interested in these things anyway."

"All of them?!" Tuka exclaimed in surprise "But dragon scales fetch for a very high price especially the ones from the Fire Dragon and-"

"My dear," Lieutenant Pavlova sternly said to her "I repeat myself. We are _not_ interested in these things anyway."

Tuka simply had her mouth opened agape as she couldn't believe that these people will willingly give away something so valuable without much of a second thought.

 _These people are simply so strange_. Tuka thought

 *****Later*****

Loading the several large bags filled with dragon scales into the back of the APC, Kurata sighed as he felt he almost broke his back from lifting so many sacks.

"Hey commander! Since when did we became a delivery service?" Kurata asks Itami who begins climbing inside the APC along with Takeru since their NEXTs were currently being retrofitted for repairs and maintenance.

"Don't say that." Itami said to him while he keeps his eyes focus on the Iphone he is holding "It's a good thing for the refugees to provide for themselves. Besides, it's a valuable chance to learn about how trade works in this region and-wow! Another update! Sweet!"

Kurata groans as he buried his face in his palm "He's hopeless."

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Takeru mumbled while he watched the latest episode of his favorite anime on the APC's communications network.

Along with them, Rory, Lelei and Tuka have opt to join the team in selling the scales to the market of the nearby city of Italica while Kurokawa, Kurata and Takeru will be driving the APCs to the city itself. Meanwhile, their security detail consists of Kuribayashi and her GA03-SOLARWIND as well as two TYPE-DULAKE ACs that came from 2nd Lieutenant Pavlova's own squad as well as one NEXT that's piloted by the Lieutenant herself.

"1st Lieutenant Itami," Pavlova called from the communications channel implemented inside her NEXT, Sniper Wolf "Since your temporary rank is one level above me, it means you are the leader of this operation and that both me and my men will be under your orders to act."

"You don't have to be so formal 2nd Lieutenant." Itami mumbled "It's not like it's a combat operation or something."

"Nonetheless, one can't be too careful when preparing for the unexpected Commander." Pavlova replied "We are in a war after all."

"But still, don't you think that all this firepower we are bringing is kinda too much?" Takeru asks "I mean, won't the locals freak out when they saw our ACs coming?"

"Don't worry Tachibana." Itami assured "We'll station Pavlova and her guys at the outskirts of the city so that they won't scare anyone and that they'll be easy to call when things go south."

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **Vox Populi Party** – Meaning 'Voice of the People', the Vox Populi Party is a very radical and influential political party led by the famed politician Damian Adams in the recently established colonial government on Mars. The Vox Populi Party is created from the descendants of colonists that came from the remnants of the former independent government of Line Ark as well as survivors from the destroyed colony of Anatolia and its members are always filled with revolutionary fanaticism and clamoring to represent the entire oppressed and underprivileged individuals of modern society. Vox Populi's main goal is to slowly relieve both ORCA and the League of their military forces and power before subjugating them both to the control of the government as the party sees them both as too dangerous to be left on their own. However most methods that Vox Populi employ are far too extreme, even for the standards of other right wing political parties. Though they have a large following of supporters mostly from the lower classes or underprivileged youth, the Vox Populi only manages to get a few seats in the government during every election due to their opponents receiving support from the very people they are trying to oppose. As of this moment, the new government elections are drawing near and sensing that the UCA is hiding something big behind the Gate itself, the Vox Populi has began its own investigation on the Gate in hopes of finding some dirt to use against its opponents in order to further its own schemes.

 *****NEXT Profile*****

 **NEXT Name** : Sniper Wolf

Piloted by: Alexandra Pavlova

Made with parts from BFF, Sniper Wolf is a white colored mediumweight quad-legged NEXT model built for long range combat and support. The two laser snipers it uses as its primary weapons are the latest models made by BFF and can easily pick off a target that's miles away from the position of its shooter. The two sniper cannons on its back are very strong and devastating, able to easily break the Primal Armor defenses of its opponents in one shot. Its internal shoulder unit is an enhanced targeting system that allows it to augment the already deadly accuracy of its long ranged weapons while the white color scheme it possess gives it an excellent camouflage in snowy areas. However, one glaring weakness that Sniper Wolf possess is that it lacks any sort of melee weapon to defend itself in close combat, meaning that enemies that fight in close range are its deadliest challenge ever.


	11. Friends and Hostiles

_Ah! A new chapter again! Awesome! Now, I like to again deeply thank all of my readers and followers for supporting my story. You guys are just the inspiration I need to write this all. Also, as a special mention, RWBY VOLUME 3 IS JUST RIGHT OVER THE HORIZON! WOO-HOO! Sorry about that. I'm a huge fan of Monty's series and it was just hell to wait for the new series to arrive and I was especially saddened and depressed when Monty died (God bless him). I just hope he is in a better place. Well anyway chapter 10 is here and the next one will be the episode everyone will be waiting for (hopefully)._

 _Special Thanks to painfulldarksoul, deathmask83, the renegade soldier, WriterAdam, Rigged Bomb and edboy4926 for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

* * *

 ***** 10th Episode: Friends and Hostiles*****

"So let me get this straight, you are willing to pay us 15,000,000 credits if we manage to trash your new project today?" Michael Helos asks the woman with dark brown skin and long black hair that's tied in a bun whose face is currently displayed on the screen of his AC, a white and gold colored mediumweight reverse biped NEXT named Dominion.

"30,000,000 actually if you manage to end it within 10 minutes or less." The woman clarified as she adjusted the thick rimmed glasses on her face "We only need enough combat data to test the limits of its abilities so you and your friends don't have to hold anything back."

"I never thought that earning money will be this easy." Michael chuckled

The woman smirked "Don't worry. Our new project will make sure that it will be quite difficult for you. However, our company will not be held liable if you or any of your companions ever gets gravely injured in combat or even… die in the process."

In the back of his mind, Michael snorted at her statement. Sure, he and his entire squad may just be newly formed a few months ago and that they currently only have 4 members at the moment including him but at the same time, Michael was pretty confident that he and his squad can beat anything the lady could throw at them. All of Michael's fellow members have scored at least above average during combat training and some of them are actually famous on their own right. Hans Thurmond, the heavy weapons expert of their team, was a veteran LYNX pilot who survived through the Economic Wars using only his quick wit and the superb firepower of his NEXT, Fafnir, a heavyweight quad legged AC packing more firepower than most other ACs he knows. Roxwell Voss, the sniper of their team, once took down two Arms Forts that were hijacked by a group of terrorists on Mars all by himself and he did this by precisely shooting down their main weak points with the sniper rifles of his NEXT Cold Sleep. The remaining member of Michael's team and only female, Lumia Elros, was one of the few LYNXs to have reached the semi-finals of last year's NEXT combat championship tournament with her NEXT Apparition due to its extreme speed and agility in close range combat. Michael himself was no slouch in combat and he once went toe to toe against Surtr Squad's infamous leader Kagari Vermillions herself though he may have lost that battle, he made sure to at least give Kagari a very difficult time in defeating him.

"Don't worry, the only thing getting gravely injured here will be you if you don't manage to pay our checks." Michael casually replied

The woman smiled as if she was seemingly amused at his statement. "Don't worry, my employers always keep their words on the matter. You should be more worried about the foe you will be fighting against. But until then, I wish you and your friends good luck Mr. Helos."

The woman's image zooms out of his screen and Michael begins relaying the mission briefing to his companions on the comms of his NEXT.

"Alright guys, here's the short version." Michael began explaining "Our current employer wants us to test the combat abilities of their secret project and they promise to pay us 15,000,000 credits for doing so. Now, I don't know what it is but I think it might be a new NEXT model or weapon they might have recently just developed. If we could smash that thing within 10 minutes or less then they will pay us double for our efforts."

"15,000,000?!" Roxwell Voss exclaimed in surprise and disbelief "That's higher than any kind of mission reward that we have ever seen!"

"And double if we beat it in 10 minutes or less?" Lumia Elros said out loud "Man, these guys must be pretty confident if they are willing to pay that much of an amount to us."

"Even so, this smells very fishy to me." Hans Thurmond mumbled in suspicion "I mean, 15,000,000? 30,000,000? Are these guys really serious about paying that large of an amount to us?"

"Our employer's secretary told us that her boss always keeps his word on it. However, if she is lying then we can always make these guys regret double crossing us." Michael assured

"Well I hope you're right cause I still have a very bad feeling about this." Hans grumbled when the large door at the far end of the steel, hexagonal shaped testing room suddenly began sliding itself open and a single NEXT slowly stepped forth from the entrance.

"What the…" Lumia said as she squint her eyes in order to get a closer look at the image of the enemy NEXT displayed on her screen.

The enemy NEXT was a simple middleweight biped AC sporting a red and black color scheme. From its appearance, it seems to be wielding a pulse rifle in one arm and a laser blade in the other which is nothing special really since a lot of LYNXs uses such weapons. The most notable feature of this AC however, were the two oversized compartments on its back resembling a combination of thruster engines and wings.

 _"Begin testing!"_ A loud female voice announced and the eyes of the red and black NEXT glowed.

 _"Targets verified."_ The enemy AC stated in a cold, machine like voice " _Commencing hostilities._ "

 *****XOXOX*****

Besides the sounds of a hundreds arrows firing and the thundering crashes of a dozen boulders thrown inside the city's walls by a couple of trebuchets, the air was filled with the screams of hundreds of men charging at the city's walls with some holding up ladders on their shoulders in order to climb over the city's defenses.

"Forward everyone! This is for the glory that we all so deserved!" The leader of the brigands yelled encouragingly as dozens of his men climb one at a time on the ladders they set up on the city's walls only to be felled down, screaming as Italica's defenders threw boiling vats of hot water and oil on the attackers or perhaps kicking or chopping the ladders down before the bandits can fully climb them up.

"Push them back!" Pina shouted as she ordered Italica's defenders "We can break their momentum if we can keep this up!"

Several defenders began loading up the wall's mounted ballistas and began firing on several of the attackers' concentrated positions, accompanied by dozens of archers and crossbowmen who swiftly began picking off the heads of dozens of bandits who survive the ballistas' rounds.

Seeing that the defenders have won this round of the fight, the leader of the bandits gave his men the order to temporarily retreat in order to regroup and recuperate from their losses before they will eventually resume attacking the city once more at nightfall.

Once Pina saw the bandits temporarily retreating, she gives out an exhale of relief before calling to the rest of her knights who manage to survive the siege and telling them to rest for the moment before they will begin preparations for withstanding the brigands' final assault.

Though most of the defenders are worn out and low on morale, Pina assures them that if they manage to hold off the bandits a bit longer then the rest of her knights will arrive as reinforcements and save the entire city from the bandits' attacks. The defenders halfheartedly agreed though it is more of that they didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

 *****Later*****

At Countess Myui's keep, Pina sighs as she allows herself to crash on the countess' luxurious sofa in order to release some of the stress she is feeling from leading the city's exhausting defense.

"Excuse me your Highness." The countess' butler politely expresses to her

"What is it?" Pina asks as her eyes stared at the ceiling above her "Do you want to surrender?"

"N-No, I was just wondering if there is some way to avoid more fighting."

"It's easy. We could just open the gates and let them in." Pina mumbled as she took a small sip of wine from the golden cup she picked up on the small table in front of her before setting it back. "In exchange, you will lose everything. Every man in the city will be killed and every woman raped. I bet even Italica's children will not be spared from what barbarous act those bandits are planning to commit."

The butler gulps hard while Pina continues to speak.

"I'm confident that I could remain sane after one or two had their way with me, but not after 50 or a hundred."

"Surely you jest?" The butler said otherwise

"If you don't like the sound of that, then you must pick up a sword and fight." Pina stated "As hateful as war may be, if you get too fixated on avoiding it, you'll end up losing everything you hold dear."

"Here you are, your Highness." The head maid of house Formal stated as she placed a single tray on the table that consists of a single bowl of mashed potatoes and a small serving of sweet bread.

Pina took a bite from one of the sweet breads and instantly frown in disappointment at the flavor.

"Neither its flavor nor quantity is sufficient enough." Pina complained

"If you fill your stomach with rich flavors while you're so exhausted, you will surely fall ill." The head maid chided

"You've been through a battle like this before?" Pina asks

The head maid nodded in confirmation "Yes. I once lived in the town of Rosa before. It is currently Imperial territory now."

"I see." Pina frowned

After finishing her meal, Pina told the head maid that she will be sleeping in the guest room nearby so that she will be fully rested later to lead the defense and that if any important news show up, the head maid should wake her up.

 *****XOXOX*****

Later on, Pina was indeed woken up by the head maid after the latter dumped a bucket of icy cold water directly on the princess' face. Shooting straight up in surprise, the princess frantically asked the head maid and Gray, who was standing beside Pina's bed, if they were under attack again. The aged knight shook his head and told her that a bunch of people are outside the city's gate and he wasn't sure whether to address them as a friend or enemy.

 *****XOXOX*****

Takeru looks through his binoculars as he could clearly see a pair of eyes peering at them from the eye slits of the city's main entrance gate.

"Bro, are you sure we have to wait for them to ask us to come in?" Takeru asks "You know you could just have Pavlova and her men blow us up an entrance right?"

"Takeru, are you hearing yourself right now?" Itami chides "You are almost starting to sound like Kagari herself."

Takeru cursed quietly under his breath "Shit. Sorry bro. I didn't think that her psychotic tendencies are actually contagious. So, how in the world are we going to show them that we are friendly?"

"I think I got an idea." Itami grinned

 *****XOXOX*****

"Princess! I think I see someone stepping out from those strange metal carriages!" Hamilton informed Pina as both of them could make out the features of the young girl who got off from the vehicle from the peephole they are peering through.

"That staff she's holding… could she be a true Lindonite mage?" Pina wonders as she noticed the crystal tipped staff that the girl was holding

Another passenger stepped out from the vehicle, this time a blonde elf wearing a strange set of clothes the princess has never seen before.

"And an elf…" Pina mumbles nervously "This is bad. True magecraft and spirit magic can make up fo a very nasty combination."

The next person who came out was an even bigger surprise to the princess as the person was none other than the dreaded apostle of Emroy herself, Rory Mercury.

"Rory Mercury?!" Pina cried out in shock and a little bit of fear for seeing fearsome demigoddess herself in the flesh.

"Is that the infamous Rory the Reaper herself?" Gray asks uneasily

"Yeah." Pina confirmed though she really wished she hadn't "I saw her once before during a national religious service."

"What is the apostle of Emroy herself doing at a place like this? Could she be in league with the brigands?" Gray asks

"Knowing the church she sides with and how unpredictable their god can be, it could be. After all, the deeds of her god, to me, seem to be no more than simple whims."

"If the priests heard what you said then they would surely throw a fit." Gray remarked

"I know." Pina replied "But the words of their god are nonsense anyway."

Gray covered his face with the palm of his hand as he couldn't believe the princess just said those blasphemous words.

"What do you think we should do Princess Pina?" Hamilton asks

The princess contemplated for a while before she said "If Rory's church has truly joined forces with the brigands then we would have fallen already."

"That's true." Hamilton admitted

"But still," Pina mumbled uneasily "there's still no proof that they aren't our enemies either."

While Pina is still deep in thought about her decision, a loud knock was heard thumping on the thick wooden door of the gate itself.

Seeing as they don't have any much of a choice, Pina quickly decided on the most logical decision she has left.

"If they aren't our enemies, then we must quickly get them to our side!"

Swiftly undoing the locks on the gate's wooden door, Pina begins pushing it with all her might despite Gray's protests and when the princess has finally succeeded, she welcomed the strangers with a warm greeting.

"Welcome!" Pina yelled out when she stopped and saw the eyes of mage, the elf and the demigoddess staring at something at the ground.

Confused, Pina looked down herself and saw a man lying in the ground on his back, twitching as if he was struck with something hard on the face.

A quick realization struck Pina as she understood what just happened.

"Eh… was that my doing?" Pina asks awkwardly and all three girls gave her a quick nod.

 *****Meanwhile*****

"No… Let her… go… Please…" Michael helplessly pleaded in a broken voice, blood dripping down the side of his face as he weakly extended his hand to the cracked screen of his AC which shows Lumia's NEXT Apparition lying helplessly on the ground, its body wrecked and broken while the remains of the other NEXTs in Michael's squad were scattered all over the floor of the testing room in piles of smoking scrap metal. At the same time, a red and black colored AC was standing over the lifeless body of Lumia's NEXT, its pulse rifle pointed and aimed directly at Apparition's cockpit.

Michael desperately tried to force his NEXT to move quickly and save his friend but seeing as how Dominion had its entire lower half sliced off and its arms blown off earlier by the red and black colored AC, it was totally obvious that Michael can't do anything to stop that AC from pulling the trigger of its pulse rifle directly on to his friend.

"NO!" Michael screamed as he watched the red and black AC fire three rounds in rapid succession at Apparition's cockpit, killing the pilot inside instantly.

Seeing his friend killed right in front of his very eyes caused something in Michael's sanity to snap as his mind fell deep into despair when the red and black AC turned its glance to him and pointed its pulse rifle towards him next.

"What… are you…"

These were the last words Michael ever uttered before the red and black colored AC pumped the cockpit of his NEXT with about half a dozen energy rounds from its pulse rifle.

After killing its final target, the red and black AC's eyes glowed again before it declared _"Mission complete. All targets eliminated."_

Witnessing all of this carnage, the cameras scattered all over the testing room managed to completely record the entire slaughter the red and black AC has committed and were directly feeding the entire event live to its creators.

 _"So what do you think? He's as vicious as a wolf in battle."_

 _"What do I think? He's an utter failure. 16 minutes? Your creation should have killed them at least about 6 minutes earlier like you promised."_

 _"Hustler Zero's combat algorithms are not yet 100% complete my friend. Once we have perfected it then my creation will even perform beyond your expectations."_

 _"It better be. Our boss told us that he wants Hustler Zero to be ready ASAP. With the number of footholds the other corporations, the League and ORCA are gaining at this rate, we have to act fast if we want to establish our own hold on the Special Region."_

 _"Agreed. Time is not a resource that we can afford to waste."_

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **Hustler Zero - ? (FILE LOCKED)**


	12. The Siege of Italica

_Special Thanks to Jokun, the renegade soldier, alexkehling, painfulldarksoul and Rigged Bomb for their reviews. I'm grateful for it. More special thanks to Rigged Bomb for allowing me to use his oc in my story._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

 _P.S There is still one more place in Surtr Squad if one of you guys is still interested in passing their oc to me._

* * *

 ***** 11th Episode: The Siege of Italica*****

After introducing themselves properly as the military forces of the United Corporate Alliance or UCA for short, Itami and co were then led into Countess Myui's keep by Princess Pina herself and her knights where they then discussed about the unrelenting siege the city of Italica is currently facing. Pina told Itami and co that the city has been under attack ever since the nobles and their troops who were called in to form the army of the Allied Kingdoms failed to return from their disastrous attack on Alnus Hill due to mainly being killed in the battle. As a result, many of the soldiers who survived the catastrophic attack fled and desert from their jobs as soldiers and decided to join the growing number of bandit groups in the area which due to the loss of a capable law enforcement, cause these outlaws to become even more bold and confident in their brutal actions.

After understanding the situation and seeing as that they can't sell the dragon scales they have when the city is still in a state of war, Itami graciously offered his help, along with those of his men and their ACs, to Princess Pina in assisting with the city's defense.

At first, Pina was suspicious and extremely wary of Itami's motives but given the situation and the fact that the city won't even last through this night until her knights arrive tomorrow, she doesn't have much of choice in the matter and she civilly accepts Itami's proposal on the grounds that they can only deploy their forces at the southern gate of the city. Seeing that there is nothing wrong with it, Itami agrees with the conditions she set and he then relayed the news to the rest of his team on the comms.

Secretly however, the reason why Pina only allowed the UCA to deploy their troops at the southern gate was because that area was the most obvious part of the city the bandits were going to attack later with the brunt of their forces and Pina positioned the UCA there in the hopes that most of the UCA's troops will succumb to the bandits' numbers and die there fighting.

However, when the southern wall opened its gates to let the UCA's forces in, Pina can't help but to become rather intrigued and worried when she saw the vehicles that carried their troops in. The black, armored carriages that they rode in seem to be made entirely of some type of expertly forged iron since by their looks alone, the quality of the metal can be clearly distinguished from even afar and then there is the fact that the carriages themselves can easily move even without the help of a horse pulling them to do so. On the other hand, the men inside the carriages were stranger as like the man she talked with earlier; they were all wearing a type of uniform that she has never seen before that's dark and grey all over with domed helmets and some even wearing an intimidating kind of mask that covers their entire face. Their weapons, the likes of which Pina has never seen before, resembles a cross between a crossbow with the triggers and the stock they possess, and a staff with how long their lengths are. Nonetheless, these all pale in comparison when the princess finally saw the so-called 'metal giants' that the UCA have under their ranks as about three of them slowly marched through the city's opened gate, the ground trembling slightly with every step that they take.

Pina herself shook slightly in fear as she almost did a double take when she saw how huge these giants are. The things are so tall that they have to crouch slightly in order to even enter through the city's gate and all three of them seem to be made of out of the same iron forged out of the UCA's metal carriages. But the most surprising thing of all was the fourth metal giant that unbelievably descended from the sky and its appearance was the most alien and fearsome of them all. Its size was larger than the other three metal giants that entered through the southern gate, making Pina wonder how the thing can even fly in the air even without wings and at the same time understand that it is physically impossible for it to even fit at the southern gate's entrance even when it crouches itself. The skin of the beast is colored a pure white, almost like the rare snow she once saw in the Empire's mountainous regions while its hands hold weapons that are like super sized versions of the ones the regular soldiers of the UCA are holding. But the most noticeable feature of this fearsome white giant however are its legs. Unlike the other three giants which possess two regular human shaped legs, this one possess four legs that are jointed together much like a spider's, a fact that makes Pina shudder as it only adds on to the already high intimidating factor that these beings possess.

"P-Princess… w-what is that thing?" Hamilton asked, stammering nervously as she visibly quivers.

Pina gulped as she was clearly frightened by the appearance of the UCA's monsters "I believe… those are the giants the UCA are rumored to have been using…"

Hamilton's eyes grew wide "So those are the same giants we heard that drove off the fire dragon?! Princess! Are you sure it is a good idea to let them in? What if they-"

"We don't have much of a choice!" Pina said as she gritted her teeth "Right now, we are going to need all the help we can need in order to fend off those brigands."

"B-But what happens after that?!" Hamilton fearfully points out "What if they turn out to be even worse than the bandits?! We don't even know what they could even do to us!"

Seeing how fearsome and intimidating the UCA looked even without even seeing it in battle, Pina could only hope that the decision she made was the right one and that it at least won't backfire terribly on her but deep down, the princess knew that this decision of hers will be something that she will deeply regret in the future. Badly.

 *****XOXOX*****

"What do you mean your team can't make it back today?! What the hell are you talking about lieutenant?!" Solomon Schneider fumed, his aged face clearly looking very furious on the screen of the APC's communications channel.

Itami grinned awkwardly as he tried to carefully answer Schneider's angry question "Well, uh… we kinda got caught up in a battle here and we kinda offered to help the inhabitants here in defending this place and-"

"And you offered precious military resources to the enemy without my permission?!" Schneider looks like he was about to explode but before he begins screaming out various kinds of profanities in different languages, Schneider's image suddenly zooms out of the screen and was replaced with the images of Thermidor and CEO Akira Yanagida in return.

"We are sorry for interrupting your colorful conversation with Colonel Schneider Mr. Youji." Yanagida said as he tilts the glasses on his face "But I think it is much better if you would talk with us instead."

"No sweat." Itami joked before his face turned serious again "However, there is one request that I would like to ask you two."

"And what would that be?" Thermidor mused as he could see a grin break out on Itami's face.

 *****Sundown*****

"Commander!" Lieutenant Pavlova called out through the comms of her NEXT "I can see about three people on horseback approaching the borders of the town from at least two miles away. I think they are scouts. The rest of their forces, about 700-800 strong, are right behind them and I can spot at least 3 siege weapons among their group. Should I introduce them to hell right now?"

Itami thought deeply as he watched the large number of dots blink wildly on the radar of the APC he is stationed in. Ever since the princess designated them at the south gate, he knew they are being assigned as decoys in order to draw the bandits away from the main force of the defenders but Itami didn't mind it much since he knew that Pavlova and her men will easily mow down any bandit that dares to foolishly fight them on foot. Still, to be used as bait, that princess is a lot more scheming and smug than she looks and everything else that Itami has given her credit for.

"Pavlova, I'm allowing you to blast any bandit that dares to set foot within 200 meters from us. Don't shoot when they are out of line so that you will conserve your ammo." Itami commanded

Pavlova nodded "Understood Commander. Sniper Wolf, out."

Pavlova's image zoomed out of the screen and Itami sighed as he looked at the sky outside and saw it slowly darkening by the second.

 *****Nightfall*****

Long after the sun finally sank into the horizon, the entire city of Italica was on high alert as it waits for the brigands' inevitable attack but after 3 whole hours has passed and not a single bandit was spotted at the city's southern gate that it all seemed that the worst has finally passed.

At the eastern gate, several dozen men were patrolling the wall; their torches being the only things that help them manage to see through the darkness of the night. Among those men, at least two dozen archers are kept alerted at all times and at least 5 ballistas were kept loaded and ready to fire in case some of the bandits' forces were spotted in the darkness. Leading these men was a knight of Pina herself, Norma who himself has experience in leading such defenses. Despite all of these however, when compared to the number of the men stationed at the city's western wall, the number of defenders at the eastern gate is still considerably small but not small when compared to the ones at the southern gate where the UCA's troops are placed.

After several more minutes of peace has passed, most of the defenders have started to ease up a bit, thinking that maybe the bandits have decided to call off their attack and run away like the cowards that they are but no sooner had they begun thinking about this that things have started to take a turn for the worse when several dozen flickering lights of flames were spotted at the darkened horizon.

At first, the defenders thought that the lights were torches but after they saw that the lights were actually swiftly flying towards them, it took them a second to realize that these were actually arrows that were set on fire and many of these arrows manage to strike down some of the defenders during their initial surprise. Following the arrows, half a dozen loud crashing noises were heard as several large rocks launched by the brigands' trebuchets pounded the thick stone walls of the city.

"Enemy attack!" Norma shouted "Everyone take cover! Archers, return fire! Ballistas, return fire!"

The defenders' archers and ballistas quickly responded in kind to the bandits' attack by shooting several arrows and bolts at the enemies' ranks, however this retaliation proved futile as the brigands simply just raised their shields over their heads and blocked the defenders' attacks.

Slowly but surely, the bandits' forces began to advance, their troops arranged in a tortoise like formation to protect them from arrows and ballista bolts while their siege engines which consists of battering rams and catapults, lumbered slowly from behind them.

Seeing that the forces here don't stand a chance against holding off such a large number of enemies, Norma told the rest of the defenders to send an alert to Princess Pina about the sudden attack that was made o the eastern wall.

 *****XOXOX*****

At the southern gate of the city's wall, Itami could clearly see a large cloud of smoke rising from the eastern section of Italica.

"Commander, it seems the enemy has decided to switch their target towards the eastern gate." Lieutenant Pavlova commented on the comms "It seems these people are a lot smarter than they look."

"It's because most of them are former soldiers themselves." Takeru pointed out "They know when they might be falling into a trap."

"Commander, what should we do?" Kuribayashi asks as her voice suddenly pops up on the comms.

Itami contemplates for a while before he asked "Has the eastern gate requested reinforcements from us yet?"

"No sir. Not yet." Kurata replied this time on the channel

"I see." Itami mumbled before he looks over at the area where the fighting is taking place.

 _What will you do now, princess?_ Itami thought

 *****Meanwhile*****

"Alright, I want everyone to listen closely." Thermidor announced as 3 of the most famous NEXT squads in existence are standing right before him with all of their members intact. "1st Lieutenant Itami Youji has received a request from Italica's representative, Princess Pina Co Lada,-"

A few members of the squads chuckled at the sound of the princess' name.

Thermidor glared at the ones who laughed before he continues on "to provide support for local peacekeeping operations. They are requesting additional support."

"Sir! Let my squad handle this." Gustav Koenig requested "Grendel Squad is all set up and ready to crush all our foes underneath our threads!"

"Oh please," Kagari Vermillions said as she rolled her eyes "Your squad is as slow as a snail even when they are being carried by one of our Storks. I believe my squad is more suited for this situation Sir Thermidor. Surtr Squad is much faster than all of these meatheads combined."

"What did you say you bitch?!" Gustav snarled "You think you and your band of pyromaniacs are better than us in this situation?! I bet you and your psychos will just burn everyone in that entire city just for the sick fun of it!"

Kagari smirked "Maybe, maybe not. Who knows, I might even bring home some souvenirs."

Seeing at how unstably psychotic Surtr Squad is, it is obvious to Thermidor that they are out of the question however, he could see that Kagari has a point saying that Grendel Squad is too slow and that they will most likely arrive late to their destination which just leaves only one NEXT squad for his choice.

"Miss Nyne, is your entire squad up and ready to move out?" Thermidor asks to a blonde haired woman with deep blue eyes standing on the left side of Kagari's flank.

The woman who seems to be in her mid-twenties and had her long blonde hair style into a French braid, nodded at Thermidor and said "All 15 of my men are ready to move out in their respective NEXTs at your given notice Sir Thermidor. One of my men, Lieutenant Colonel Gravit, even picked out a special music to play for our grand entrance."

Thermidor smiled "Perfect. Then I suppose you and your squad should go right now Miss Nyne. I will even have a small group of Normals and Storks assist you and your squad in this mission."

Cloud Nyne smiled "Thank you sir. This will be a grand honor to my squad."

Using the communication device implemented in her ear, Cloud Nyne begins relaying her orders to the rest of Valkyrie Squad.

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****NEXT Profiles*****

 **Squad Name:** Grendel Squad

 **Leader** : Gustav Koenig

 **No. of NEXTs in Ranks** : 9

 **Motto _:_** _"We shall fear no enemy; for each of us is driving a house-sized mass of **fuck you**!" _

An elite, heavy armored division NEXT squad known for their tank like NEXTs and their extreme efficiency in frontline combat, Grendel squad is led by the aged LYNX Gustav Koenig, one of the many veteran LYNXs from the infamous Economic Wars. Famous for charging directly in the face of battle, very few enemies can face can fare well against the wall of advancing steel that is Grendel Squad. With the multitude of missiles, grenades, rockets and bombs that they can dish out, Grendel Squad can easily rip apart any opposing armored division they are sent against and the sheer amount of armor their NEXTs possess ensures that they can take a lot of punishment themselves.

 **Members**

\- Gutentag

\- Deathmachine

\- Kurogane

\- Humbaba

\- Lethal Beauty

\- Mazel Tov

\- Big Shot

\- May Day

\- Skull Buster

 **Squad Name:** Valkyrie Squad

 **Leader** : Cloud Nyne

 **No. of NEXTs in Ranks** : 16

 **Motto _:_** _"We fly where angels fear to tread."_

An elite, first strike NEXT squad led by the famed Sky Maiden, Cloud Nyne, herself, Valkyrie Squad is famous for its use of lightning fast attacks and blitzkrieg style tactics and also for the fact that it is currently the squad with the most number of NEXT pilots in its ranks, numbering at a whooping 16 members in total. Well-known for its members using speedy, lightweight based NEXTs designed with almost unlimited flight time in mind, there is no other NEXT squad in existence that can even match up to Valkyrie Squad's complete mastery over the skies.

 **Members**

\- Valhalla

\- Songbird

\- Calamity Hearts

\- White Rabbit

\- Mirror's Edge

\- Air Gear

\- Tsujigiri

\- Egoist

\- Vae Victis

\- Sky Pirate

\- Nirvash

\- Fox Bat

\- Grease Lightning

\- Divine Intervention

\- Angry Bird

\- Dragonfly


	13. Ride of the Valkyrie Squad

_Special Thanks to Jokun, the renegade soldier, Guest, Thaqif, TheClownJakkle, deathmask83 and Rigged Bomb for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs. I also don't own the song used in this chapter._

* * *

 ***** 12th Episode: Ride of the Valkyrie Squad*****

"So tell me again as to why we are even helping these guys in the first place? Cause I'm pretty sure it wasn't out of the good of our hearts." Eliza Deveraux asks as she, Colonel Cloud Nyne and Lieutenant Colonel Octavius Gravit walked into the hangers which housed their respective NEXTs.

"It is because we are ordered to, Miss Deveraux." Colonel Nyne answered with a casual but stoic expression planted firmly on her face "We are LYNXs. It is not our job to question our orders. Besides, our bosses' motives are already quite obvious to anyone who can see it."

"What do you mean ma'am?" Octavius Gravit asks

"Lieutenant Colonel, have you ever heard of the phrase 'speak softly and carry a big gun?' Cause that's exactly what we are going to do." Colonel Nyne replied

"Oh, I get it." Eliza grinned "They want us to portray the UCA in a powerful light, to turn it into the very image of power itself."

"I'm glad that you are quite observant Miss Eliza." Colonel Nyne smiled as she stepped into the elevator that will allow her to board into her NEXT, Valhalla.

Meanwhile, about several hundred other personnel were hurrying around to and fro around the rest of the hanger bay, attending several dozens of F21-C Stork Helicopters and the Normal ACs that they will carry into battle while the rest of Valkyrie Squad's NEXTs were being raised up to the launching area by the lifts of their respective hangers.

"Everyone, what's your status?" Cloud Nyne inquired after she finished setting up the communications channel of her NEXT.

"This is Songbird ma'am, I'm ready to sing!" Eliza cheerfully answered

"Divine Intervention here, saying let's smite these bastards right now!" Gravit gleefully exclaims

"Sky Pirate here, ready to pillage!"

"This is White Rabbit, all of my systems are ready to go!"

"Calamity Hearts is ready to rain chaos at anytime ma'am!"

"Dragonfly, reporting for duty ma'am! All systems are green!"

"This is Nirvash ma'am. I'm clear for launch."

After receiving the complete status of the rest of her squad, Cloud Nyne smiled as she herself finished setting up the controls of her NEXT just as the ceiling above her slid opened and the lights from the launching area entered into the lift.

 _"NEXT Valhalla, you are clear for launch."_ A mechanical voice announced

"Alright then!" Cloud Nyne exclaimed as she activated the boosters of her NEXT "This is the NEXT Valhalla! Launching!"

 *****Meanwhile*****

With all the bloody fighting going all around on Italica's eastern gate, it is expected that the screams and shouts of people dying all over will fill the air around the city. However, at the southern portion of the city, the sounds of something a bit more… explicit can be heard instead.

"GRAH! AH! NO! AT THIS RATE I'LL…" Rory moaned rather sensually, earning a couple of uncomfortable stares from some of the men of Itami's team as she seemingly convulsed uncontrollably from some kind of sexual pleasure. "…I'LL GO CRAZY!"

Inside one of the APCs, Takeru shifts uneasily as he watched Rory shook from orgasmic pleasure.

"Man, this is so wrong on so many levels." Takeru said

"You could say that again." Private Sokolov agreed with his statement as he could felt something below his belt turn hard from watching Rory on the screen of his AC when Lieutenant Pavlova's image suddenly popped up and blocked his entire view.

"Sokolov! Stop watching this or else I'll smack your face with about a dozen civil and military violations that I can think of!" Pavlova barked at him

Sokolov sighed in disappointment, muttering something so quietly under his breath so that his superior won't hear before he reluctantly replied with "Yes ma'am."

Meanwhile, Itami tried to approach Rory in order to see what is wrong with her when Lelei suddenly stopped him and told him not to go near her yet, explaining that as an apostle of Emroy, the numerous souls of people being slain on the battlefield will naturally pass through Rory's body in order to be drawn to the side of her god. The souls affect Rory's body like an aphrodisiac and the only thing that can help her is for her to fight directly on the battlefield.

Sokolov snorted upon hearing Lelei's explanation from his AC "Yeah right. A Goth loli demigoddess who gets sexual satisfaction from killing people. As if that's believable enough."

"Actually, I can think of one person who gains sexual pleasure from slaughtering people." Takeru mumbles as he is suddenly reminded of his previous battle with Kagari.

"Pavlova, has there been any word from the eastern gate? Any request for reinforcements?" Itami asks her through the comms

"Negative Commander." Pavlova replied "We have received nothing from the princess yet and- Commander! She's running away!"

"Huh?" Itami blurted out in surprise as he turned behind his back just in time to see Rory leap off the wall, dash swiftly straight towards the town before jumping onto one of the roofs and running on top of them, ninja-style.

Takeru swore while Kuribayashi and Pavlova quickly asked Itami about their next course of action.

Sighing in exasperation, Itami gave an order for Pavlova and her men to stand guard over the southern gate while he, Takeru, Kurata and Kuribayashi in her GA03-SOLARWIND will give chase to Rory and shoot out a signal flare along the way in order to guide the coming reinforcements.

 *****XOXOX*****

At Italica's eastern gate, the fighting has gotten even worse after the bandits manage to destroy a small portion of the city's wall with their trebuchets and dozens of their men began pouring through that breach by the minute, catching most of the defenders by surprise before overwhelming them completely with their sheer numbers. After killing a majority of the city's militia there, the bandits swiftly seized control of the eastern gate's defenses and began opening its main gate in order to let the majority of their forces in.

"Rejoice!" The leader of the brigands exclaimed as stabbed a militia defender in the neck with his sword before severing it entirely and picking it up for all his men to see. "Listen up my men! This is the battle we are all longing for! The war that we all crave! The slaughter that we have all witnessed at Alnus is nothing when compared to this! But with this massacre! We will at least die satisfied cause we have finally reclaimed our glory! The screams of this burning city shall be our chant in the afterlife! A song of legend that will be passed through the ages! And this song shall be our offering to Emroy! The God of War!"

Maniacal cheers of glee were shouted by the brigands as many of them raised their weapons in the air or beat their shields in rhythm at inevitable arrival of their victory.

 *****XOXOX*****

"Ma'am! We will be arriving in Italica within approximately 5 minutes, give or take." Eliza reported through the comms "Reports coming from 2nd Lieutenant Pavlova's NEXT indicate that major fighting has begun already at the eastern gate which the bandits have already seized control of."

"Is that so?" Cloud Nyne mused "Well then, all units! Get yourselves ready in attack positions at 10 o'clock as we will swoop in with the rising sun behind our backs for dramatic effect!"

"ROGER!" The rest of Valkyrie Squad replied in unison.

"And Lieutenant Colonel Gravit, I assume you have some music that's perfect for our grand entrance?" Colonel Nyne asks

"Why yes ma'am!" Gravit gleefully replies "I got one that's absolutely perfect for this moment!"

Cloud Nyne smiled "Well, what are you waiting for? Start the music already!"

The entire assault group lined themselves up perfectly in formation just as Gravit kicked up the music and began blaring it out through some unseen loudspeakers inside his NEXT.

 **[Background Music: Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse's Apocalypse of Destiny by Ayami]**

With the upbeat and action packed music from Apocalypse of Destiny accompanying their entry along with the sun behind their backs, Cloud Nyne beams widely in pride at her squad for making such an unnecessary but evidently cool and dramatic entrance.

 *****Meanwhile at Italica*****

"Kuribayashi, does your AC have any flare rounds in it?" Itami asks from the comms of the APC he is currently driving in.

"Only a couple commander." Kuribayashi answered

"Good. Fire one into the air right now."

"Roger!" Kuribayashi replied as she aimed the bazooka of her GA03-SOLARWIND upwards before firing a single flare round at the sky itself.

At the eastern gate itself, Italica's defenders were being hard pressed by the brigands' superior forces as they tried their best to vainly prevent the bandits from spreading even further into the city.

Things got even worse when the bandits revealed their secret weapon. From the captured eastern gate; at least half a dozen 5 meter tall horned giants that the brigands manage to enslave can be seen marching right through it. The giants all wore a single dirty loincloth on their lower halves which is the only thing that conceals their very inappropriate privates while a thick metal slave collar can all be seen worn around their necks. Each giant wields a very thick club that's carved out of a single average tree trunk which now rests easily on their shoulders.

Giving several ferocious roars, the giants charged and swung their devastating clubs at the defenders' ranks and smashed most of them into either pieces or paste while the brigands cheered their beasts all the way. The militiamen's archers tried fighting back by firing dozens of arrows at the vicious beasts but the giants' tough skin was simply too hard for their arrows to penetrate even when the giants are not wearing any sort of armor on their persons.

Things change a lot however when a small, feminine figure was seen leaping from one of the roofs nearby, laughing as she does so before landing so hard with her feet that it generated a minor shockwave on the ground that forced everyone to stop fighting and focus their immediate attention on the newly arrived Rory and her gigantic halberd.

One of the giants near Rory roared as it raised its wooden club above her and tried to smash her with it but Rory swiftly dodged out of the way in the blink of an eye before she twirled her halberd in her hands and swung it down at the giant's arm, instantly severing its hand in one go.

The giant gave out an intense screech of pain as it raised the bloody stump where its hand formerly had been before it stumbled backwards in shock.

The bandits stepped backed a little bit in shock and surprise after seeing Rory easily take out one of their slave giants without much effort when at that moment, a strange music can be heard playing in the background which caused some confusion growing within the brigands' ranks as it can slowly be heard getting stronger and stronger by the second.

Rory on the other hand just smirked, licking the blood that got accidentally sprayed into her face before a massive explosion erupted at the eastern gate's entrance.

 *****XOXOX*****

"Booyah! Death from above bitches!" Eliza gleefully exclaims as she mowed down an entire group of enemies with the gatling gun of her NEXT Songbird while a couple of her squad mates unleashed an entire barrage's worth of missiles at their targets.

The bandits were deeply stunned and surprised by what was actually attacking them. Dozens of soaring metal giants, each bigger than the ones they are currently using to attack the city, are currently flying over the brigands' forces and devastating their ranks with some kind of extremely destructive sorcery that only a high level mage can accomplish, a fact that basically astounds the bandits as giants are practically stupid, mindless beasts.

"D1, you and your group are clear for release." Cloud Nyne informed through her comms

In response, the dozens of F21-C Stork Helicopters that were flying above the battlefield released their cargo which were actually about dozens of Normal ACs of an equal number comprised mostly of TYPE-DULAKEs, GOPPERT G3s and GA03-SOLARWINDs.

The Normals began raining all over the battlefield, each of them generating a tremendous shockwave upon landing with some even deliberately landing on the most tightly packed masses of the brigands' forces, a habit that apparently got stuck to a few who once worked with Surtr Squad in a couple of their operations. One even got lucky enough to land on a slave giant's head and swiftly squashed its brain into mush underneath the metallic feet of his AC.

"Look out below, motherfuckers!" Eliza cheerfully cries out as she blasts several more brigands stationed at the eastern gate into oblivion with a couple of micromissiles from her NEXT.

"Songbird! Watch where you are firing!" Cloud Nyne reprimanded her through the comms "We still got some friendlies situated at this area, not to mention our own troops! Restrict your fire to the outside of the wall only and watch where you are firing!"

"Yes ma'am!" Eliza replied when she noticed a couple of hostiles on the wall attempting to load a ballista.

"Ma'am! I spotted what appears to be an anti-air weapon on the wall. The hostiles are still loading it!" Eliza informed

Cloud Nyne nodded "Very well. Nirvash! You are the one nearest to the wall. Take them out!"

"Roger!" Nirvash's pilot responded as his red and white NEXT swiftly flew in front of the ballista itself and the men quickly froze in shock and fear at the fearsome metal creature glaring directly at them.

"Boom." The pilot inside smirked as he fired a strong laser blast from the back weapon of his NEXT and vaporized the poor sods on the wall who were trying to mount the ballista.

"Enemy neutralized." The pilot announced

"Good work Nirvash!" Cloud Nyne commended "Now fly over to Point C of the area. I want you to take out those siege weapons these schmucks are using."

"As you wish ma'am!" Nirvash acknowledged

 *****Meanwhile*****

"DAMN IT! IT'S NOT FAIR! IT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR!" Kagari screamed as she angrily threw a chair at the single window of her room, sending it crashing through the glass before she irately drew a plasma pistol from her side and began firing it rapidly at a training dummy that's just idly standing nearby, pumping it full of plasma rounds until her pistol ran out.

Snarling, Kagari threw her pistol next at the wall in frustration before she banged her hands on her table.

"It's not fair!" Kagari growled as she glared at her reflection on the mirror "I should have been the one leading that assault! Not that stuck-up Scandinavian bitch! I could have been roasting people and having fun right now but noooo! They choose to pick her instead of me! ME! The best LYNX pilot they ever have! And they chose a second-rate whore to lead such a wonderful attack on a city. Sure, I might kill a few civilians here and there but they are _enemy_ civilians at least. They don't deserve anything less than the fires of my flamethrower. That bitch… I'll make sure that she will regret taking my fun away. Oh, how I will love to make her scream so loud after I introduce her to the flames of hell itself!"

What Kagari doesn't know however was that her rant was being recorded live through a camera that's secretly hidden behind the glass of her mirror as well as everything that she has ever done inside her room.

Watching the live recording, an elderly scientist and several of his assistants was eagerly taking down notes of Kagari's behavior when another, much younger scientist with short auburn hair suddenly entered the scene.

"So doctor, how is our subject doing?" The younger scientist asks

"Still psychotic and unstable as ever." The elder sighed without taking his eyes out from the screen.

"So she's still normal you say?"

"As normal as anyone with Human PLUS traits can be." The elder muttered "Why must the majority always turn out to be a bunch of dangerous sociopaths?"

"Having cybernetics implanted directly into your nervous system can do wonders to people." The younger one informed

"Well, it's a good thing that neither the League nor ORCA knows about what we are doing. Monitoring her and the other subjects is already a pain on our budget and not to mention the number of files we have to forge for her identity."

"Which is a good thing that she herself doesn't even know that her identity is fake." The younger one quipped

"Yes." The elder scientist agreed "It's a good thing that it worked otherwise we will be forced to implement much more… drastic measures."

Seeing Kagari furiously rip the head of a training dummy with her bare hands on the screen, the younger scientist smiled.

 _No matter. She is still pretty much a vital asset to our plans._

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **F21-C Stork –** An ultra heavy lift helicopter used by both the League and ORCA in transporting a variety of their troops in battle, the F21-C Stork utilizes a VTOL rotor system in order to maximize its lift capability and has a folding garage inside its main compartment which allows it to easily carry its cargo of ACs and MTs. The Stork is primarily used as a rapid deployment vehicle for both Normals and MTs in the event that an Arms Fort is not available or if it proves a Stork can get to the designated location much faster, however it can also be used as a vehicle to transport both infantry and supplies if needed.

The F21-C Stork is primarily weaponless, possessing only enough armor plating to withstand attacks from some ACs. Though stronger armed variants of the Stork exist like the B-44 Rokh which is equipped with missile launchers and additional armor plating, these attack helicopters are considered to be even more inferior when compared to a Normal AC and much more when compared to an NEXT, which practically makes their existence impractical at best and obsolete at worst. The only thing preventing attack helicopters from being scrapped entirely from the military forces of the League and ORCA was their only advantage against ACs in that they are much easier to pilot than one meaning a shortage of capable pilots for these types of helicopters are not quite possible.

 **Slave Giants –** Formerly a nomadic race living in the rough, mountainous regions of the Empire, the giants were mostly nonviolent beings who favor to wander their homeland in the mountains and scavenge for food instead of simply attacking nearby villages at the foot of the mountain for easier prey, preferring to live in peaceful coexistence with their neighbors. However, this all changed when the empire invaded their area and enslaved their entire race, turning every giant into a mindless beast of battle to be used against the Empire's enemies.

Huge, strong, terrifying, tough and easy to train, these beasts are used to inflict massive damage into the enemies' ranks either by smashing them flat with the heavy clubs they used or by being used as a living battering ram in the case of a siege. However, one glaring trait that all giants possess is that they are all remarkably as stupid as a rock, making them impossible to follow or learn any sort of complex orders and/or strategies and only being capable of following the most basic commands and instincts in existence.


	14. Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick

_And I'm back again! And wow! I got over 9000 views and I already have a following this high? Man, your support really pleases me everyone and I deeply appreciate you all for that. Anyway, I just watched the first episode of RWBY Voume 3 and I have to say that it was AWESOME! Especially that theme music that played. Anyway I like to say it again to you guys. Thank you all for your support, I will always be grateful to it. Now let's get on with this chapter now._

 _Special Thanks to Jokun, the renegade soldier, alexkehling, RoyalTwinFangs, Rigged Bomb and WriterAdam for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

 _P. S [This will be another important question for a future chapter] What do you think is more beautiful among these two? Eureka Seven's Sakura or Asterisk War's Brand New World?_

* * *

 ***** 13th Episode: Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick*****

"Kuribayashi, there's a couple large hostiles blocking our path! Take them down for us!" Itami commanded as his group suddenly encountered two 5 meter tall slave giant standing right in their direction.

"Roger Commander!" Kuribayashi replied before she brought out the machinegun of her GA03-SOLARWIND and fires a full burst of rounds from it at the giants obstructing their path. The rounds from the machinegun of Kuribayashi's AC were designed to pierce through the armor plating of other ACs as well as some NEXTs and seeing as these giants were not wearing any kind of protective armor on them except maybe for their tougher than average skin, you can probably guess what obviously happened next when the giants easily got their limbs torn off and their bodies pumped full of so many holes that they almost rival a single block of Swiss for the sheer number of holes they have.

"Kurata, deploy the DRAGOON's drones!" Itami ordered as he swiftly navigated the APC through the tight twists and turns of the city "And Tachibana! I want you to man the machinegun right now!"

"Roger!" Both soldiers replied

 *****XOXOX*****

"Hey douchebags! I brought presents!" Eliza laughs as she unleashed a devastating barrage of micromissiles from her NEXT, Songbird, at a couple of captured ballistas at the wall that were being manned by enemy forces and she watched with ecstatic glee as her micromissiles completely smashed the wall apart and destroyed it along with the people manning it.

"Boo-yah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Eliza cheerfully exclaimed when Lieutenant Colonel Gravit's image suddenly popped up on her screen.

"You seem to be enjoying this a bit too much Sergeant." Lieutenant Colonel Gravit observed

"Don't worry; I'm not enjoying this on a Surtr Squad level sir." Eliza replied "Unlike them, I still have standards."

"Glad to know." Gravit said when he suddenly noticed on his screen three of the remaining brigands on the wall are staring right at them, their feet frozen in fear while their faces were completely petrified into an expression that details both shock and terror.

"Hey Sergeant, you forgot to give these guys a present!" Gravit informed Eliza who grinned back at him in response.

"Oh, did I?"

Songbird turned its face around in order to directly look at the brigands' faces which have now instantly turned deathly white in alarm as they saw Songbird's strange weapon pointing right at them.

"Don't worry; I have at least a few _thousand_ more to spare." Eliza chuckled as her six barreled, GA made gatling gun began to spin rapidly before it unleashed a deadly storm of hot lead at its targets.

Two of the unlucky bandits instantly got shredded into a pile of bloody strips by the lethal burst of Songbird's gatling gun but the third, who manage to react just in time when he saw the six barreled weapon spin, instinctively jumped out of the way and avoided its deadly fire. Unfortunately for him, that is where his luck ends as he actually ends up landing right on top of Rory's halberd of all things, its sharp point swiftly piercing right through his armor and impaling him right on his heart.

The bandit gasps before he threw up his blood directly on the face of the demigoddess below.

"This… is not… war! This can't… be called… war!" The bandit gasped as his blood drips down the blade of Rory's halberd.

Looking down at the blood stained faced of the apostle of Emroy herself; the bandit began crying out in fear, anger, rage and humiliation, screaming "This can't be called a war! Don't you agree? Priestess of Emroy?!"

Rory didn't say anything as she simply slams her halberd down on the ground and bisects the bandit impaled on its point.

"Bitch!" A bandit screamed at her as he tried to bring his axe down on her but the demigoddess simply caught its blade barehanded when it began to descend upon her and she smirked.

"Nice try but it's not enough." Rory chuckled before she cleaves the man in half with one swift swing of her halberd and walked past him as his torso slowly slid down his body.

Seeing the demigoddess approach them, the other bandits tried to fight back by arranging themselves into a tortoise formation with their shields and spears in front however, their efforts only made to amuse Rory even more as she dashed right at them, dodging underneath the thrusts of their spears before she spins around and swung her ludicrously heavy halberd at their side, decapitating several of them while smashing apart the rest from their formation.

Two groups of at least a dozen bandits each tried to attack Rory again by flanking her at her sides but before they do, a small swarm of half a dozen combat drones suddenly appeared from the sky and began firing upon one of the bandit groups with the machineguns installed upon them while a large rocket flew from out of nowhere and blasted the second group into pieces in a single explosion.

When Rory looked back, she saw that it was none other than Kuribayashi's GA03-SOLARWIND holding its bazooka in one arm and its machinegun in the other followed by an APC that has Takeru mounting its own single machinegun.

"Tachibana!" Itami shouted as he saw a couple of archers on the wall beginning to nock their arrows.

"Right!" Tachibana replied before he begins firing the APC's machinegun at the hostiles standing at the wall, mowing them quickly and watching their lifeless, bullet ridden corpses fall down as a result.

There are still more bandits remaining in this area and the rest of them are trying to regroup themselves together when suddenly, a couple NEXTs flew through the smoke enveloping the eastern gate and situated themselves above the remaining targets.

"1st Lieutenant Itami, this is Dragonfly and Sky Pirate." One of the NEXT pilots announced through the comms system "We're about to bomb this area back to the Stone Age so I advise you and your companions to leave before we do so. We will be giving you 10 seconds to get out of our firing range."

Itami swore, immediately yelling at Kurata to take the driver's seat before he jumps out of the APC to quickly pick Rory up.

"10… 9… 8… 7… 6…"

After grabbing Rory up in his arms (and accidentally grasping her chest in his hand), Itami quickly dashed towards the APC and jumped right in to its open door before Kurata swiftly drives the vehicle out of the two NEXTs' range followed by Kuribayashi and her GA03-SOLARWIND.

"5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"

After the two NEXTs finished counting down, immediately the missile hatches on their shoulders opened and they began firing an unnecessarily large missile salvo at their targets resulting in explosion after explosion rocking the entire area.

"Man, these guys are even more insane than Surtr Squad themselves!" Kuribayashi remarked as she watched the bombardment from her screen

After draining their entire ordnance on their attack and once the gigantic smoke cloud cleared, the destruction that could be seen in the aftermath was in no short of overkill in appearance as not only were the bodies of the bandits badly burned and torn apart by the explosions the two NEXTs caused, the bombardment they have initiated has also blown large chunks of the ground off as well as completely obliterating the entire eastern gate into pieces.

"Enemy neutralized!" The two NEXT pilots proudly declared

Nearby, Princess Pina and Hamilton looked on in pure horror at what they have just witnessed.

"M-Monsters…" Hamilton stammered weakly as she could feel her legs tremble deeply in fear at the fierce display of strength the UCA's forces have just shown to them.

"Iron giants that can fly?" Pina mumbled as she could see the two NEXTs descend to the groud "What are those things?"

Seeing the two NEXTs approach each other and give a high five to each other, Pina shudders as she imagined what would have happened if these metal giants have attacked Italica instead.

"Absolute violence that no human can withstand. The power to crush everything, a power that denies pride and honor in an instant. Is this the goddess mocking us? About how frail, insignificant and worthless we humans are?"

Later soon, numerous F21-C Stork helicopters began descending all over Italica and dropping off dozens of infantry battalions to help treat the wounded, remove scattered debris and to round off any surviving stragglers in the city. Assisting the battalions are the over one hundred Normal ACs they have previously arrived with along with the NEXTs of Valkyrie Squad and those of Itami's group.

One of the soldiers was approached by a couple of civilians who thanked them for saving their city and asked them what army they belong to and the soldier simply replied with the following statement.

"We are the United Corporate Alliance or UCA for short."

"UCA?" The civilians repeated the name "We have never seen anyone like you."

The soldier grinned at them "Sir, you haven't seen everything about us yet."

 *****XOXOX*****

"It's over. The brigands have been all wiped out." Princess Pina mumbled

"Yes. We were victorious." Hamilton agreed with her

"No. We are not." Pina disagreed as her hands visibly tighten themselves "It was the Priestess of Emroy, Rory and the UCA who have won. Not us. Not me. Worse, the UCA is actually the enemy who is currently occupying the holy hill of Alnus."

Hamilton's eyes grew wide with shock and surprise just as the princess continued speaking.

"In intending to save Italica, have I not called in a far more terrifying force?" Pina asks "Those flying metal giants and those powerful magics they use to wipe out the brigands in a single moment… If they were ever turned towards Italica… then both I and Countess Myui would be quickly turned into prisoners and one of the Empire's most important agricultural areas would fall into enemy hands. And the people might even welcome them with cheers and open arms."

"That's not true-" Hamilton began but Pina quickly cuts her off.

"Are you sure? They were the ones who truly saved the city." Pina reluctantly pointed out, almost hating herself for doing so "If they were to demand our surrender, I might even respond by falling to my knees and beg for their mercy while I kiss the soles of their feet."

 *****XOXOX*****

Later on more troops from the UCA's base on Alnus arrived at Italica twelve minutes later, carrying with them are dozens of supplies and MTs to help with the repairs and rebuilding of the city. What's surprising with this group however was that Thermidor and CEO Akira Yanagida themselves have decided to come along with this group to the city in order to establish negotiations with the ruler in charge, a move that deeply surprised Itami himself as he never expected some of the head honchos to make the negotiations themselves.

For the area of negotiations, both the UCA and Princess Pina agreed that the most suitable place to establish it would be at Countess Myui's keep and Princess also allowed the UCA's group to bring as many armed guards as they want albeit she allowed so reluctantly (though seeing as the UCA here has shown her that they have a bigger stick than her, she doesn't really have much of a choice).

"We are grateful for your soldiers for saving Italica," Hamilton read out aloud from the scroll she is holding which is containing the details of their negotiations "and would like to negotiate your compensation."

Yanagida smiled smugly while Thermidor looks over at Itami's face and notices the large black eye on the right side of his face.

Thermidor raised his eyebrows and asks "What happened to you?"

"Combat injury." Itami sighed

"The 2nd article, the safety of a delegation and its expenses, will be taken care of in accordance with Imperial protocol." Hamilton continued "And the 3rd article, trading rights for the UCA's forces, poses no problem either. However, I would like you to understand that the rights to the prisoners lie with us."

Yanagida nods "No worries. The UCA understands that manual labor is needed in order to rebuild Italica completely. However, we would like to be assured that the prisoners will be treated as humanely as possibly."

Lelei translated what Yanagida said to the other negotiation party.

"Humanely?" Hamilton asks in confusion "How do you define that exactly?"

"To the UCA, humanely means that you would treat a person well as you would treat a friend, relative or acquaintance." Lelei answered

"What?!" Hamilton exclaimed in shock "You can't be serious, treating these people who just casually slaughtered hundreds of Italica's civilians-"

"Those are their rules." Lelei interrupted "They won't settle for anything less."

Thermidor silently nods in approval. Despite the brutal society of their military, treating prisoners humanely was one of the very few things he knows that separates them from the complete savagery of the Empire they are facing.

Hamilton sighed as she relented herself from the matter "Very well. That settles the matter of the treatment of the prisoners. All that's left is the military withdrawal and the treaty period."

Lelei nods "We have no problem with how it was written."

 *****Later*****

"So how did the negotiations go?" Gray as Princess Pina as she reclined her back on the wall of the corridor.

"They took several prisoners and asked us to take care of all the diplomatic delegations' security and expenses plus a release from all trade taxes in Italica." Pina answered

"Those are rather small demands for a victor." Gray remarked "So will they occupy the city?"

Pina shook her head "No. They said that they will be withdrawing immediately and that they will not place any of their forces inside the city."

Gray's eyes went wide in surprise "Then they barely gained anything out from this! I've never heard of an army that would accept such conditions."

"Yes." Pina agreed "To make them give up the natural rights of a victor would take incredible negotiating skills. I would love to know what kind of magic Hamilton used to make them agree to such conditions."

 *****XOXOX*****

"So, we are really withdrawing our forces here then?" Thermidor asks as he and Yanagida were slowly being escorted into one of the F21-C Storks by their own troops.

"Yes." Yanagida confirmed "We also agreed not to place any of our forces inside the city itself… however, there is nothing in the deal that said we can't place any _above_ the city itself."

Thermidor's eyes went wide "You didn't…"

Yanagida smiled smugly "Oh I did. And I already talked with the League and several of the other independent corporations. They all agreed to place one of the Sol Dios Orbital Cannons we have created in this world above Italica's airspace."

"Yanagida, you sneaky, little bastard…" Thermidor remarked "I knew I should have been suspicious when you casually agreed to such a disadvantageous deal."

"And you are right Thermidor." Yanagida chuckled "Well what can I say? I'm a businessman and I would never agree to such a deal unless I know I'm always one step away from my rivals."

"Remind me to never ever play chess with you Yanagida."

Yanagida gave out a hearty laugh "Oh don't worry Thermidor, I'm pretty sure you are quite devious yourself considering you played both the sides of ORCA and the League before in order to further your own schemes."

Thermidor smiled "Guilty as charged. So, what are we planning to do next Yanagida? After all, according to our intelligence reports, this city is basically the heart of their agricultural system and by placing a single Sol Dios Cannon above it in orbit; we have secretly taken their entire food supply hostage without them even knowing it."

"Have patience my friend." Yanagida smirks as he adjusted the glasses on his face "This is all just a step to bring us ever closer to our goal of completely subjugating this entire world under our control."

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **Sol Dios Orbital Cannons –** Normally a weapon used to be equipped to Arms Forts, the Sol Dios Orbital Cannons are an upgraded version of the original destructive weapon. Designed to function in low to medium orbit without being mounted to any Arms Fort, the Sol Dios Orbital Cannons shares some similar technologies with the Assault Cells, namely their power output which allows them to stay for an extensive period in orbit, usually five years or more. Basically, these cannons function as an extremely more powerful version of the Assault Cells the League has created. However, only four of these weapons have so far been created with two that were secretly constructed inside the Special Area at the UCA's discretion due to the huge stigma the Assault Cells have placed on orbital weapons, making people very cautious and hesitant about using them again out of fear that the cannons will be used like how the corporations had used the Assault Cells. However despite this as well as dozens of protests coming mostly from the Vox Populi and their associates, the sheer military advantage that orbital weapons can provide was simply too big to ignore and both ORCA and the League continues to use these weapons until this very day.


	15. Misunderstandings

_Special Thanks to RoyalTwinFangs, WriterAdam, AlxendBlader, raigalcc, Guest and the renegade soldier for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

* * *

 ***** 14th Episode: Misunderstandings*****

"We'll take her, her, her and… her." Itami said as he casually pointed to several of the female prisoners they have managed to take captive among the bandits' ranks.

2nd Lieutenant Pavlova intently glared at Itami "Commander, you just mostly picked women amongst this group. Does this have something to do with your 'unusual' hobbies, I presume?"

"It's just a coincidence." Itami replied

Pavlova glared even harder at him with her icy blue eyes and Itami finally sighed in defeat.

"Fine. We'll take a couple of those guys too."

Pavlova nodded "Good. It has been a pleasure working under your command 1st Lieutenant."

"Likewise." Itami replied

Later on, after loading every AC and infantry battalion back into their Storks, the UCA's military forces began to ascend from the ground as they prepare to return back to their base at Alnus while the citizens of Italica bade them all farewell as they watch the Storks and ACs flew off into the deep blue sky. Itami's group was left behind however, as they still haven't finished their accomplishing their original objective which is to sell the half a dozen sacks of dragon scales that they currently have.

Standing guard outside the door leading to the office of the rich merchant they are selling the scales to, Takeru grumbles under his breath while he held his REXCALIBUR rifle in his arms as he waited patiently for the negotiations between Lelei and the merchant to finally be finished.

"Man, what's taking them so long?" Takeru mumbled and as if on cue, the door behind him slowly swung open and Lelei and Rory stepped out from it.

"So how did it go?" Takeru asks

"The merchant paid us 200 gold cinque and 1000 silver denarii for the scales." Lelei answered "He told us that he can give us a draft for 2000 more but he told us he can't pay the rest of the price for the scales since the city is still low on both gold and silver after the last battle. So instead, I gave him a discount on the remaining price in exchange for information that is worth of the discounted price."

Takeru nods "That's a fine move there. You know, you could almost rival some of the League's most devious businessmen there Lelei."

"Thank you." Lelei replied courteously

 *****Later*****

On the road back to Alnus, Itami gave out a large yawn as his team were finally accomplished their objective and are now returning back to base.

"Finally! It's over!" Takeru declared gleefully over at the comms "I can't wait to finally kick back and watch the latest season of RWBY this evening."

"Sorry Tachibana but Thermidor told me that he is planning to have a little chat with us once we returned to the base." Itami informed him

"What?! Another mission already?" Takeru exclaimed in disbelief "Oh come on bro! I've been waiting for almost a year for its Volume 3 premiere! I can't be going on another mission again!"

"Sorry Private, rules are rules. Even I can't break all of them." Itami replied as he scrolled down on the recently arrived messages displayed on the screen of his Iphone until he reached one message that has a very distinctive pink colored emblem displayed on it.

 **From: Serene Haze**

 **Subject: How Are You Doing?**

Itami smiled "Mom, you never change."

"Commander! There's smoke right in front of us and I think it's heading right this way!" Kurata suddenly alerted through the comms.

"More smoke?" Itami muttered as he stopped the APC in its tracks before he took out his binoculars in order to take a closer look at the road ahead of them.

"What can you see bro?" Takeru asks

"I can't see anything much Tachibana. This smoke is blocking much of my vision." Itami replied

"Wait Commander! I think I can see something!" Kurata exclaimed

"What is it? Is it an enemy?" Pavlova's voice suddenly asks through the comms.

"What can you see Kurata?" Itami asked him

"I think I can see a tiara sir!" Kurata replied

"Oh, a tiara. Okay then-Wait! A tiara?" Itami asks in confusion as Kurata continued describing what he is seeing.

"Blonde hair… ringlets… I think I spotted one blonde girl in ringlets, one beautiful girl in boy's clothes and several hot chicks right behind them!"

"Uhh, are you sure you are not joking Kurata?" Takeru asks skeptically

"I'm serious!" Kurata insisted "I'm not making this up and- wait! Roses! I can see roses displayed on their banners!"

"Roses?" Itami wondered out loud "Is it a tricolored rose crest Kurata?"

"Aye!" Kurata replied

"Then those women must be the knights that princess spoke of." Itami said "Though I think I never saw a girl with ringlets like that before."

"Commander! Me and my team are right behind you and ready to act at any given moment!" Pavlova informed "We are awaiting your orders for our next course of action."

"Stand down for a while 2nd Lieutenant." Itami ordered "There's no need for any extra violence today and we just made peace with the princess a while back. Let's solve this thing diplomatically. Besides, they are showing no signs of overt hostility towards us. We are going to instantly violate the treaty we just made if we attacked first."

Pavlova sighed "Fine. As you wish Commander. But I have to inform you, me and my men shall stay alert in case things go… south, as you might say."

When one of the Rose Knights finally approached the lead APC on her horse, the soldier inside, Takeru, slowly slid the bulletproof glass window of the APC open in order to directly look at the face of the knight that approached them.

"Where did you come from?" A female Rose Knight with short silver colored hair demanded rather rudely from Takeru as he kept a rather neutral face while glaring right at her.

"We are just returning from Italica." Takeru replied as he kept hand firmly on the plasma pistol in his side which is hidden from the female knight's sight, ready to blast her right in the face at any sign of hostile intent.

"To where?" The female knight demanded

"To Alnus-" Takeru began but upon mention of the word 'Alnus', the female knight suddenly draw the sword from her right while the rest of the Rose Knights began to lift their lances.

"The hill of Alnus?! Then you people are our enemy!" The female silver haired knight declared

"Hostile intent!" Pavlova alerted everyone through the comms "Sokolov, Gagarin! Get your ACs ready for combat!"

"Pavlova, wait!" Itami exclaimed at the comms "Don't fire yet on these people! They just don't know about the treaty we made with the princess! Maybe we can still salvage this situation and avoid further bloodshed!"

"Commander, are you seriously thinking about this?" Pavlova asked in disbelief.

"I just don't want any unnecessary deaths today 2nd Lieutenant!" Itami answered back at her

"Um, bro. I don't want to disagree with you but I kinda have a sword pointed at my neck here." Takeru muttered quietly under his breath which caused the silver haired knight to snarl at him and grab him by the cuffs of his uniform.

"What did you say?" The female knight growled

 _"I said 'your mom' bitch."_ Takeru snickered as he spoke in his native Japanese, a language he knows the people of the Special Region doesn't know or even speak about.

The female knight's brows furrowed in confusion as she didn't understood what Takeru just said when Itami suddenly stepped out from his APC and begins approaching the Rose Knights with his arms raised up.

"Commander! What are you doing?" Pavlova hissed at him through the comms but Itami decided to ignore her and puts on his most friendly expression as he continues to approach the female knights.

"Hey there!" Itami cheerfully called out "Has my man there done anything to offend you?"

 _"Besides calling her a bitch?"_ Takeru smirked as he spoke again in Japanese to disguise his insult.

"You are not helping Tachibana." Itami muttered quietly under his breath when he suddenly felt the tip of a blade point itself at his neck.

"Surrender!" The blonde haired knight with ringlets demanded

Itami cursed silently as the situation is slowly degrading by the second. If doesn't do something now, things will get really, really ugly.

"Hey calm down." Itami cheerfully said as he tried to coax the knight into lowering her sword "There's no need for-"

 _Smack!_

A loud slapping sound was heard as the blonde haired knight suddenly struck Itami on the check with her left hand.

"That's it! We're smashing this bitch brigade into pieces!" Sokolov suddenly exclaimed through the comms and Itami cursed as he felt a tremendous shockwave shook the ground below them when Pavlova's NEXT, Sniper Wolf, suddenly dropped right out of the sky and landed just a few centimeters away from them.

" _Attention all hostiles! Drop your weapons or else we will be forced to fuck you up in more ways than Stalin ever did to Russia!"_ Pavlova announced as she pointed both of Sniper Wolf's rifles at the hostile group of knights while Sokolov and Gagarin's TYPE-DULAKES suddenly arrived from the back of the convoy accompanied by Kuribayashi's GA03-SOLARWIND.

Seeing themselves instantly surrounded at all sides by 4 humongous giants made out of metal, the Rose Knights were all instantly scared shitless by the sheer intimidating factor that these giants possess especially the white one with the four insect like legs and not to mention the strange, foreign weapons that the giants are pointing right at them.

"Wha-What are these things!" The blonde haired knight exclaimed in pure horror as she tried to calm her horse which had been absolutely frightened when the four legged giant suddenly landed from out of the sky.

"Pavlova! Don't fire on them!" Itami yelled at Pavlova's NEXT

" _I'm sorry Commander."_ Pavlova apologized " _But if these people don't lower their weapons right now, then me and my men will be forced to act on your behalf."_

"I'm ordering you Pavlova!" Itami shouted "Don't shoot!"

 _"Again, I'm sorry Commander but the safety of our entire group is our first and utmost priority than the lives of these savages."_ Pavlova casually replied

Itami swore very hard before he looked up at the blonde haired knight whom he presumed to be their temporary leader and told her to order her fellow knights to lower their weapons if they still want to live.

The blonde haired knight's face seemingly turned into a furious and angered expression and was about to yell something at Itami when Pavlova and her men suddenly fired their weapons at the sky, creating a sound that almost sounds like the simultaneous crackling of several dozen lightning bolts at the same time which certainly frightened the Rose Knights even more and even caused most of their horses to thrash around wildly in a panic as the thundering sound of the ACs' weapons certainly terrified them a lot.

 _"We are giving you one last chance!"_ Pavlova declared _"Drop your weapons or else we **will** totally use extreme violence on a level that's totally out of proportion with this situation!_ "

Seeing that they obviously don't stand a chance against these terrifying giants of steel, the blonde haired knight reluctantly gave the order for the rest of the Rose Knights to surrender; knowing that if they don't then these colossal monsters will simply just slaughter them all right on the spot.

Seeing the Rose Knights surrender themselves at their mercy, Itami gave out a sigh of relief as they managed to avoid a potentially messy situation.

 *****Meanwhile*****

"Sir, we already received reports that the Sol Dios Cannons have now being placed in orbit above the city known as Italica." Jude Warrel, secretary to the CEO of Akva Vit, the corporation who created the Sol Dios Cannons in the first place, informed his boss as he uploaded several files into his boss' computer.

"Excellent work Jude." The CEO of Akva Vit replied offhandedly as he continued drinking the expensive glass of vodka in his hand without even giving his secretary as much as a second glance "You may leave now."

"Um boss," Jude began "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?" Jude's boss asked without even looking at him directly

"Um, my daughter's 7th birthday is coming tomorrow." Jude says uneasily "She is still currently confined to the hospital due to her… illness and… I was wondering if you could allow me to take the day off tomorrow and-"

"Jude…"

"Yes boss?" Jude replies nervously

"Do you see this empty glass of wine in my hand?" Jude's boss asked

"Yes?"

"That's how much of a fuck I give about your current problem." Jude's boss casually replied

"But-But sir! I've worked for 15 straight years in this company!" Jude protested

"Yes, I know." The CEO mumbled dryly "And I appreciate you for your honest work. Now, get back to work Jude. Time is money and you've already wasted several million credits worth of my time with this pointless conversation of yours."

Jude was taken aback by his boss' extremely heartless words and was about to say something back when his boss quickly interrupted him.

"And let me remind you that Akva Vit is the one providing your child with the decent, expensive medical care she is receiving. It would be a terrible shame if someone cuts off her funding…"

Realizing that there is nothing he can do about it, Jude bit down his tongue, clenching his fists tightly before he gave a mocking bow to his boss and stormed pass the two heavily armed MTs that were guarding the entrance to his boss' office

"You just can't fight any decent help these days…" The CEO of Akva Vit sighed as he began opening the files sent to him by his secretary.

Besides reports pertaining about the placement of the Sol Dios Cannons in orbit above Italica's airspace, the files the CEO received also contain information pertaining to the activities of the UCA and its troops which is about an entire library's worth.

"Oh goody, it seems I have a lot of work to do." The CEO sarcastically mumbled when a strange emblem suddenly popped up on his screen.

"What the?!" The CEO cried out in surprise as the image of a solid black circle with a golden amber colored 9 superimposed over it was clearly displayed over his screen.

" _What is your wish?"_ A strange, mechanical voice suddenly spoke out from his computer

"Wha-What is this? A virus?!" The CEO cried out in alarm when he suddenly saw the 9 transform into a countdown timer as it began uploading the files to some unknown location.

Seeing the danger of what would happen if those files got uploaded, the CEO tried to shut off his computer when the two MTs standing at the entrance of his office suddenly raised their arms and fired a lethal burst of rounds from their automatic weapons, tearing hundreds of holes into the CEO's body before he crumples to the ground and allows his blood to pool on the nice, clean floor of his office.

 _"Your fate is sealed."_ The mechanical voice coldly stated as it finished uploading the classified files to its creators.

Seeing as that its job here is done, the invading entity swiftly escaped the CEO's computer by hijacking its personal satellite communications system in order to transfer its program completely away from the scene.

 *****XOXOX*****

Pina couldn't believe it. Just a few hours ago, she just signed a treaty that would assure her of Italica's complete safety. However, it only took a few minutes for one of her more idiotic followers to break it and set the entire terrifying military forces of the UCA upon them completely.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Pina angrily shouted as she threw a glass of wine at one of her subordinates, Bozes, striking her right on her face before she sat back and tried breathing in deeply in order to calm herself down.

"Princess, please forgive us!" The Rose Knights all thoroughly pleaded while they kneeled before her "We didn't know that a treaty has already been signed!"

Pina placed her palm on her face in both disappointment, anger and embarrassment as she tried contemplating about the serious situation her knights have just caused while Itami and the others simply stand by near them.

"Man, do you think she is being a bit harsh with them?" Itami whispers to Takeru as he watched Pina berate her knights for their foolishness.

"I don't know man but I think she is right about lecturing them about their mistake." Takeru replied

"Even so, it's not their fault that they didn't know about the treaty in the first place." Itami muttered

Takeru shrugged "Maybe. Oh by the way, I like to remind you that Pavlova and her men are standing right outside the keep at the moment, ready to level it down in case things got shitty again."

"Isn't she being a bit too overkill in this situation?" Itami asks

"Bro, I told her the exact same thing but she simply just replied with 'Our ammunition is cheap. Our lives are not'."

Itami sighed when suddenly, he felt the Iphone inside his side pocket vibrate slightly meaning he just received a new message.

Muttering something under his breath, Itami pulled out his Iphone from his pocket and answered it but when he saw the message displayed on his screen, his eyes immediately widened in surprise.

 **From: Strayed**

 **Subject: Very, very important message (and oh yeah, hey there son! How are ya by the way?)**

Opening the message his father sent to him, Itami read the entire thing in a single minute before he began contemplating it for a while as he realized one thing.

He was being recalled back into the other side of the Gate.

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **Viruses –** Malicious programs used to infect other programs in order to either steal classified secrets and information or to direct control of entire systems, viruses have long been declared illegal by both the League and ORCA after the incident with Luna Arclighter and her viruses in which she used her malevolent programs to hack the control systems of the Assault Cells and used them to destroy two Cradles in orbit, killing approximately 40,000,000 people in the process. Despite their declaration however, both organizations still continue to discreetly use viruses against each other in terms of espionage and cyber warfare which in turn, fuels Vox Populi hatred and accusations against the two about their increasing corruption.


	16. A Display of Force

_Special Thanks to deathmask83, Guest, Jokun, the renegade soldier, Thaqif, RoyalTwinFangs, tamagat, WriterAdam, raigalcc, Ornstein the Dragon Slayer and LordGhostStriker for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

 _P. S For those of you wondering if I'm going to include the maids, don't worry, they will still appear albeit at a later chapter. Also to Thaqif, yeah I already read Sentient Familiar. I have to say that it was good though by its last update date, it seems it has sadly turned into a dead fic by now. But still, it was good._

* * *

 ***** 15th Episode: A Display of Force*****

"She's almost right near me!"

"Damn it! How in the hell is she so fast?!"

"Get away! Get away!"

Dodging and weaving underneath an endless stream of bullets using her supernatural agility and reflexes, Kagari smirked as she swung Kagutsuchi's chainsword in a wide arc and swiftly sliced the barrel of the enemy NEXT's assault rifle.

"Checkmate." Kagari stated before she quickly impaled her chainsword deep into the enemy's NEXT's cockpit, killing the pilot inside instantly.

"Damn you!" One of the three remaining enemy ACs cursed at Kagari as they unleashed a large burst of machinegun fire straight at her.

However, their attack just made Kagari laugh in amusement as she simply used the lifeless body of their ally which is still impaled on the blade of her chainsword as a shield to deflect their fire.

"That's it! Scream for me! SCREAM FOR ME!" Kagari laughed maniacally as she brought out her flamethrower and shot a large column of white hot flames from its barrel while behind cover from her makeshift shield.

"Agh! Get back! Get back!" One of the enemy NEXTs shouted at his teammates as they all stopped firing their weapons in order to quickly back away from Kagutsuchi's highly damaging flames which are easily eating away at the energy gauges of their Primal Armor. However, this chosen course of action of theirs proved to be their downfall as this allowed Kagari to close in enough on the distance between them.

"Nighty-night!" Kagari gleefully stated as she quickly discards the husk of the enemy AC impaled on her chainsword before she swiftly dashed forward with her boosters activated and rapidly slashed each enemy AC several times in just 5 seconds.

Grinning madly, Kagari licked her lips as she watched each enemy NEXT fall apart into pieces on her screen before the following words popped up on her display.

 **Training Simulation Complete!**

 **Victor: Kagari Vermilions, 715 wins, 0 losses and 0 draws.**

"Ah, nothing beats another flawless slaughter." Kagari sighed in content, admiring her new perfect score before Solomon Schneider's face suddenly popped up on her screen.

"Vermilions, it seems you are having fun." Schneider casually said

"If you mean by wiping the floor with four of your so-called best LYNXs in combat, then yes Schneider, I am having fun." Kagari smirked "Though it is obviously not as fun as murdering them for real. Still, this fight is a good way for me to release my anger. Better take it out on the training field rather than on the nearest fool beside me."

"Please Vermillions, that would be a terrible waste of personnel." Schneider deadpanned "However, if it pleases you, I believe we will be assigning you to a new mission, effective immediately."

Kagari's psychotic grin grew even wider "Really? So those fools at high command are finally realizing their mistake in not recognizing my talents?"

"Sort of." Schneider replied "I'll fill you in with the complete details once you finished logging off from your simulation Vermillions."

"As long as you can promise me that a lot bloodshed will be involve then I won't need to learn any other pointless details." Kagari chuckled

Schneider simply didn't say anything though a slight expression of disgust and revulsion can be seen in his eyes.

"Still, a debriefing is still required as per protocol Miss Vermillions." Schneider explained "Just arrive at my office as soon as you are finished here. That is all."

With a nod, Schneider cuts off communications with Kagari.

 *****XOXOX*****

At his office, Schneider gives out a sigh of exasperation after cutting off communications with Kagari.

"Man, that woman gives me the creeps." Schneider mumbles when a new message suddenly pops up on his screen.

 **Incoming Message! Messenger Unknown!**

"Well it's about time…" Schneider grumbled as he reluctantly answered the incoming message and the darkened image of an unknown individual appeared on his display.

"So Schneider, I trust that you manage to appoint Miss Vermillions to be a part of the security detail for the UCA's upcoming mission?" The voice of the mysterious figure asks

"I've pulled all the strings that I can to get your unstable pet accepted for this." Schneider muttered "I better hope that you have upheld your end of the bargain in this."

"It has already been done." The figure responded "We have already transferred and dispersed a total of 5 million credits to dozens of offshore bank accounts listed in your name."

Schneider smiled "Good. It's been a while since I had a decent glass of good scotch. I have to say, it's quite a pleasure doing business with you."

"Likewise, we at Murakumo hope that this partnership of ours will continue for a much longer period, Mr. Schneider." The mysterious figure replied before ending the transmission.

Schneider smirked "Heh, 5 million. Ah, how I love the easy lif-"

Suddenly, another new transmission was received by his inbox and another message has now appeared on his screen.

 **From: 9**

 **Subject: What is your wish?**

"Oh, now this gets more interesting." Schneider chuckled

 *****Meanwhile*****

Itami couldn't believe what his father's message is telling him. According to the message, he is currently being summoned to appear before a large, senatorial committee that's been called forth and requested by members of the Vox Populi political party concerning about civilian casualties caused by the UCA's forces. Apparently, the Vox Populi managed to obtain this piece of classified information after someone managed to leak a bunch of stolen files directly on the internet. What's worse is that the leaked files were actually stolen directly from the computer terminal of the CEO of Akva Vit himself who's now currently dead after someone managed to hack into the systems of his security MTs and used those to murder him directly inside his own office. As of this moment, the entire intelligence divisions of both the League and ORCA are in total disarray as they tried their best to control the situation and reduce as much damage as they can otherwise their entire plans for the Special Region will be torn apart into pieces by the large public resentment that is obviously coming their way.

"Out of all the possible timings..." Itami mumbled before Takeru asks him what's wrong and Itami simply showed Takeru the message displayed on the screen of his Iphone causing his eyes to grow wide in shock.

"Dude, somebody killed one of the big cheeses of the League? That is so not good." Takeru said

"Quite obviously." Itami agreed before he calls the politely calls for Princess Pina's attention in order to courteously excuse themselves right now, explaining that he is currently being summoned to appear before a large senatorial committee.

When Pina frowns in confusion upon not understanding what Itami said, Lelei decides to step forth and simply explain to her that Itami is being to report back to their own senate.

After hearing Lelei's simplified expression, the princess' eyes instantly grew wide in alarm and panic as she realized how screwed they are. Not only had her knights attacked the UCA's forces unprovoked and violated the treaty she just made with them, giving the UCA the excuse they need to annihilate the Empire, the man in front of her will be going back to report to their own senate meaning that one word from him is all that is needed for the UCA to completely unleash their entire forces down upon them and seeing as how her own second in command had just slapped his face a few hours ago...

Pina's heart began racing in a panic as she remembered how easily the UCA wiped off the bandits that attacked Italica using the devastating magics and terrifying metal giants that they possess. If they UCA ever turned those frightening weapons against them, then it is quite obvious that the Empire won't stand a chance and would even be easily conquered by the UCA in less than an entire week and that's only with the number of forces that they currently have under their sleeve.

The thought of such an alarming thing possibly happening frightens Pina to such a degree that she couldn't even bear to think what would happen if the UCA's main forces arrived from the other side of the Gate with full support from their senatorial government.

"W-Wait a minute!" Pina suddenly stammered out "C-Can I make a request with you?"

"Request?" Itami blurted out in confusion "Of what kind your Majesty?"

"I-I want to join with you to Alnus Hill!" Pina answered nervously

Itami almost took a step back as he was caught off guard by the princess' statement "What?"

"I-I want to apologize directly to your superior officer directly," Pina explained "for violating the treaty and for the disrespectful behavior that my knights have shown to you. I assume that is fine, right Lieutenant Itami?"

"Well, this is quite… unexpected." Takeru mumbled while Itami simply groaned in disbelief.

 *****Later*****

"Commander! Are you sure we should bring this princess of theirs with us?" Pavlova asks as she voices her disbelief over at the comms "Haven't you remembered how her knights have attacked us unprovoked recently? What if she is trying to spy on us or something?"

"Pavlova, you don't have to worry about anything." Itami explained "The princess is only coming with us diplomatically in order to apologize directly to our superiors. Besides, I already asked Thermidor and Yanagida about it and they told me that it is fine. Also, even if she is a spy, I doubt she can report anything useful back to the Empire knowing that they can't possibly replicate any weapons that we currently even have."

Pavlova sighed "I can understand that part but you can't blame for being so paranoid out here Commander, not after your plan of peaceful diplomacy failed a few hours back and I and my men have to bail you out before things got any worse."

"Commander! The princess and one of her chosen subordinates are about to board your APC." Kurokawa's voice suddenly informed through the comms

Looking over at his shoulder, Itami saw Pina along with the blonde haired knight from earlier board the APC through the back. The two women are currently clad in a sort of stylish looking diplomatic uniform which makes them totally out of place with the soldiers they are currently sitting right next to. Takeru gives the two an intimidating glare especially the blonde one as he still hasn't forgotten what she and the other knights have done earlier.

"So, are you ready to go princess?" Itami asks and Pina gives him a nervous nod in reply as she could feel the threatening glare that Takeru is currently giving to her and her subordinate.

Itami sighed "Tachibana, please stop staring like that at them, they are currently our guests at the moment."

"Only at the moment." Takeru muttered

"Tachibana."

"Fine." Takeru grumbled

 *****XOXOX*****

The journey didn't take much long as within just 10 minutes, the entire convoy has arrived into Alnus Hill which quite surprised Pina on how fast the UCA's metal carriages can be but that is nothing when compared to the stuff they are currently seeing as they pass through the base's outer premises.

"Princess! Look at that!" Bozes called out to her as she pointed to a shooting range where about a dozen UCA soldiers are test firing their REXCALIBUR rifles.

"Those staves… are all the UCA's soldiers mages?" Pina curiously asks Lelei who is sitting right in front her.

Lelei shook her head in response "No. It's not magic. What the UCA actually uses is a weapon called either a gun or a rifle."

"A-A weapon?" Pina stammered in disbelief as she couldn't believe that such destructive power could actually be a simple weapon.

"The principal is simple really." Lelei explained "They enchant a square shaped container and fill it with raw magical energy which they fire directly through its barrel."

"And they give it all to their soldiers?" Pina asks in both astonishment and fascination at the implication. If a devastating weapon like this can be mass produced on a very large scale then maybe if Pina managed to find out how these so-called guns are made and replicate them then maybe she can even the odds on the playing field.

"Yes." Lelei nodded in confirmation "However, even guns are nothing when compared to the main weapons that the UCA uses."

As if on cue, a loud screeching sound was heard as a lightweight class NEXT flew over the vehicle they are riding in and both Pina and Bozes looked over through the tiny window of the APC to see that they are passing through an NEXT training exercise area where over at least dozens of NEXTs were fighting against hundreds of heavily armed MTs, metallic creatures that to the princess, seemed as equally formidable as the NEXTs they are seeing due to their enormous size and the similar weapons that they possess.

Imagine their surprise however when the two Imperial women saw how easily the smaller number of NEXTs casually dispose the much larger group of MTs with their grenade launchers, micromissiles, flamethrowers and laser blades. One NEXT even managed to wipe out an entire group composed of about 3 dozen MTs all by itself using a strange weapon that fires a gigantic beam of green colored energy that seems to eat anything that gets caught in its path.

Seeing such a terrifying display in front of her, Pina gulps hard and asks Lelei about what matter of creatures these metal giants are.

Lelei shook her head again "Those are not giants. From what I heard the UCA calls them, those things are called NEXTs or Armored Cores to be exact."

"A-Armored Cores?" Bozes said with confusion on her face.

Lelei nodded "Yes. From how the UCA explained them to me, Armored Cores are gigantic machines purposely built entirely for war that the UCA told me that they have already been using for almost a hundred years now. Each Armored Core can be piloted by a single human being into battle with each possessing enough weaponry to destroy an entire Imperial battalion singlehandedly."

"Wait… you are telling me that these things are actually piloted by people inside?" Pina skeptically asks.

"Correct." Lelei confirms "Basically, Armored Cores are like an advance form of armor that's similar to the heavy armor worn by knights except on a extremely larger scale and that they can function like highly mobile siege weapons. However, the UCA has other weapons that are even more destructive than Armored Cores."

"Even more destructive?" Pina expresses doubtfully "What can possibly be more destructive than those giant monsters that we have seen?"

The answer came shortly to Princess Pina as they passed by one of the UCA's newly established war factories and spotted what seems to be an _extremely_ gargantuan building that's standing right next to it. The building itself is almost taller than any structure the Empire has ever built and it is packed to the brim with hundreds of weapons that are similar to the weapons Pina has seen the NEXTs were holding but what really surprised Pina and caught her attention was that the building actually _moved_ and that is when she noticed that the 'building' actually has _legs_ that enable it to move around.

Princess Pina and Bozes basically had their mouths open agape in stunned silence as they essentially saw one of the first Spirit Class Arms Forts to ever be constructed inside the Special Area.

"Giant walking fortresses… Armored Cores…" Pina said weakly as she could feel herself trembling with fear "The UCA truly are otherworldly monsters!"

As if to further her point, the gargantuan Spirit Class Arms Fort they are watching suddenly fired a shot from one of its long range cannons and destroyed an entire large concentration of training MTs, leaving only a single charred crater in its wake.

"Why is an army like this attacking us?" Pina wondered in disbelief

"The Empire stepped on a griffon's tail." Lelei casually said

"How can you speak like that when the Empire itself is in peril from these things?"

"I'm a nomad." Lelei answered "The Empire has nothing to do with me."

Pina grits her teeth "So we can take over a country by force but we cannot make its people's hearts our own..."

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **Arms Fort, Spirit Class –** An Arms Fort design created first by BFF, the Spirit Class Arms Forts are basically walking fortresses, both figuratively and literally. Armed to the teeth with several homing missiles, machineguns and long range cannons, the Spirit Class Arms Forts also have the capability to become a mobile carrier for hundreds of Normal ACs as well as NEXTs. All Spirit Class Arms Forts possess enough heavy armor that makes them completely impervious and indestructible. Though the Spirit Class contains a fundamentally flawed design due to its structure, BFF, with help from other member corporations of the League, manage to reduce the number of flaws and defects that the Spirit Class Arms Forts possess until they reach a certain level that is considerably acceptable to their standards and BFF even added several new upgrades to the Spirit Class like additional armor or weapons like a single large rail cannon to its side or even adding the dreaded Kojima OMEGA Particle Cannon to it.


	17. Mission Briefing

_Special Thanks to RoyalTwinFangs, Drgyen, AlxendBlader, raigalcc, Lu Bane Na, Monsieur La Critique, deathmask83, WriterAdam and alexkehling for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

 _P.S I've also added some characters from AC3 into this chapter and changed them from Ravens to LYNXs. Before you say anything, I've added them here because I really like those guys from the previous games and also, I might also pick certain elements from AC1 and 2 and maybe even more from AC5 to add to my story in the future._

* * *

 ***** 16th Episode: Mission Briefing*****

"Sir Itami, can we please speak for a moment?" Pina requested

"Oh sorry, but um…" Itami smiled awkwardly while his eyes dart around to see if he can find some sort of excuse "Uh, I kinda busy here with this summons so-"

"Lieutenant Youji!" Colonel Cloud Nyne suddenly called out from behind him "Someone is currently requesting for your appearance at Hanger Bay Area 3!"

Itami silently thanked Colonel Nyne for her timely intervention before turning his attention back to Pina, saying "I'm very sorry your Majesty but as you can see… duty calls!"

Seeing Itami dashed swiftly away, Pina cursed her luck as she just lost her chance to persuade him when Colonel Nyne suddenly spoke out to her and said that she will be leading her to meet with her superiors.

 *****Later*****

"Greetings, Princess Pina." Yanagida said as he welcomed the two Imperial diplomats standing before him before Lelei begins the introductions.

"This is Maximilian Thermidor, head of the ORCA half of the UCA's military forces while this is CEO Akira Yanagida, head of Yanagida Industries, a corporation supporting the UCA."

Yanagida smiled "Please, let's all take a seat shall we?"

After they each took a seat, Thermidor grinned as he said "So, what brings an Imperial princess here in person? Did something happen?"

"My forces have behaved rather… inappropriately, Sir Thermidor." Pina explained "So I've come here to apologize to you, personally."

After Lelei translates Pina's words for them, Thermidor leaned back and started tenting his fingers together "We've already read the report. It is said that there was some miscommunication at the lower levels, am I correct?"

Pina nods rather uneasily "Yes. I'm truly ashamed and sorry for what my knights have done."

Thermidor mused "I can see that. We appreciate how you became a mediator between us and the Empire but seeing as how some certain difficulties have arisen then perhaps we should change some certain conditions on the treaty-"

"Please! There is no need for that!" Pina quickly said "The current terms and conditions are just fine enough. There is no need for any change."

"I've heard Lieutenant Pavlova that that lady over there gave him quite a rough greeting." Yanagida points out as he smirked smugly.

The two Imperial women started shifting themselves uncomfortably as Yanagida continues on.

"That bruise on his cheek… I have to admit, that was hilarious." Yanagida chuckles "Though strangely, he wanted it to be considered as an injury he suffered in the line of duty. I have to say, did he say something rude to you?"

After Lelei translates for them again, Pina's subordinate, Bozes, hung her head low in shame as she quietly replied to Yanagida and answered "No… he didn't…"

Lelei blinked her eyes "Then they want to know, in detail, on why did you attack their men and the circumstances at that time were. They say."

Thermidor chuckled as he could clearly see the two diplomats in front of them shaking terribly in fear.

"Lelei, Yanagida, I think that's enough. Our guests here are already quite frightened enough."

"Heh, my apologizes Thermidor." Yanagida smirked

Thermidor sighed before turning his attention back to the princess "Well your Highness, we can all agree that this has all been a huge misunderstanding due to lack of communications. However, we fear that a repeat of this event may happen again in the future due to our lack of understanding each other. So I have a suggestion to make."

"And what could that be, Sir Thermidor?" Pina asks uneasily

Yanagida tilts his glasses nearby as Thermidor gave her his answer.

"How would you like to make a diplomatic visit to our side of the Gate?"

 *****Meanwhile*****

"You called for me?" Itami asks as he arrives at the bay area and founds a woman with short graying blonde hair waiting for him with her back turned as she leans on the guard rails and admires the NEXTs currently being stored there.

"Hello there Itami Youji." The woman said as she turns around to face him "From the exploits that you have done, I can really see your father's image in you."

Itami's eyes widened as he quickly recognized the woman despite her rather aged look.

"You're the legendary Brass Maiden! Wynne D. Fanchon!"

Wynne chuckled "I think legendary maybe outdoing it a bit too much, Lieutenant Youji. That description suits your father a lot more than it does me. But anyway, I called you here because I will be the one who will personally explain your new mission to you."

"Really? B-But why? Couldn't Thermidor or Yanagida ask any other lower rank officer to do it instead?" Itami questions

Wynne smirks "That's because I personally want to meet you myself Lieutenant. Hearing you save dozens of refugees from certain death, not to mention the way on how you handled the incident with the princess' knights, has certainly caught my interest right there."

"I only did what I think was necessary at that time ma'am." Itami replied

"Would you still do it even if it's not?" Wynne asks

Itami stayed silent for a short while before he replied with "Yes. As much as possible, I believe violence is not always the solution to a problem."

Wynne smiled "I'm impressed there Lieutenant. Normally, most LYNXs that I met will instantly jump at the opportunity to slaughter needlessly and excessively but hearing about your most recent actions and exploits, I'm glad to know that there are still some LYNXs out there who cherish life."

"I'm just doing my job ma'am, nothing more." Itami grinned as he ruffled the hair on his head.

"Good to know. Anyway, for your mission, the League and ORCA will be assigning you to speak on their behalf before the senatorial committee." Wynne explained as she handed Itami a large document containing dozens of files pertaining to his assignment "The committee will be taking place in the Tokyo Cradle, a Cradle that's just been recently established a few months back as a temporary living space for over 20,000,000 civilians until the area below it is fully cleansed of radioactive pollution which our experts say will still take 5 more years to complete. Accompanying you will be two people of your choosing who will act as representatives of the Special Region as well as Miss Lelei La Lalena who will be acting as an interpreter for them. I already gave you a list of people recommended by Thermidor as well as by several of the top brass to choose from. Lastly, for your security, the top brass has handpicked several of the best LYNXs and AC pilots from the top squads available as well as a few from your own squad. The list of their names is also in the files that I gave to you."

"Gee, thanks ma'am." Itami replied as he read the list of names on the file Wynne gave to him and studied them eagerly in order to know exactly who his superiors have picked.

From the list of names, Itami could see Takeru's name in it as well as Kuribayashi's and even a couple of people that he already met or know like Cloud Nyne and Octavius Gravit from Valkyrie Squad. However, as he was halfway through the list, Itami's eyes widened as he recognized some of the names.

"No way! _Jack-O_? _Evangel_?" Itami said out loud in surprise upon learning that the leaders of Vertex Squad and Delphi Squad have been chosen respectively to be a part of their security "You are assigning them to guard us too?"

Wynne nodded "Yes. Thermidor and the League have both specifically tasked them respectively to escort you to your destinations. However, if you ask me, I believe it is so that they can firmly secure their interests in the matter. You know how Delphi Squad and Vertex Squad are personally sponsored by the League and ORCA respectively, right Lieutenant?"

"Yeah, I think it makes sense to me." Itami replied "But still, isn't it a bit overkill to assign this many LYNXs to protect us?"

Wynne shook her head "Lieutenant, you can never be too careful when you are handling a situation as delicate as this. Besides, according to our intelligence, someone is planning to take advantage of this situation and kidnap the Special Region representatives that will come along with you."

"What? Who could possibly dare to do such a thing?" Itami asks "Rogue elements from ORCA? The League? One of the independents?"

"We don't know Lieutenant." Wynne replied "Our intelligence division hasn't uncovered much information other than that which is why we made so many precautions before we even called you to inform you about your summons Lieutenant."

"So, better safe than sorry I guess?" Itami asks

"Right." Wynne confirmed

Nodding his head in agreement, Itami went back to reading the remaining names on the list she gave him. On the remaining names on list, there are a bunch of few names that Itami knew that came from Grendel Squad and even some from the other lesser known squads like Rakshasa Squad and Shenlong Squad as well as one from the few squadless LYNXs like the famous independent AC pilot Zinaida herself. However when Itami's eyes landed on the last name and picture on the list, he almost doubled back in shock and disbelief as the last name on the list was a person he would never expect and one that he absolutely despised and loathed with disgust.

"Um, ma'am… why is Kagari Vermillions in this list?" Itami asks, cringing as he said Kagari's name.

Even Wynne seemed to shift uneasily as she is quite familiar with the dreaded reputation Surtr Squad's infamous leader currently has "I'm not sure but from what I heard the top brass has assigned her to your group due to her perfect piloting skills and supernatural abilities. I tried protesting on her selection due to her unstable nature and even Thermidor agreed with me on my opinion but unfortunately, we've been outvoted on the choice."

"Man, I bet Tachibana will be really upset when he learns that he will be working with that girlfriend of his." Itami mumbled

"Don't worry Lieutenant," Wynne assured him "I've added dozens of extra precautions in case Miss Vermillions gets a bit too… unbalanced, and I even instructed several of the other people on that list to keep a close eye on her as much as possible."

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that we essentially got an ax crazy psycho acting as a bodyguard for our group." Itami points out

"I assure you Lieutenant; I will do everything in my power to keep her in check. I already faced enough omnicidal maniacs to last a lifetime here."

Itami didn't answered, staying silent as his eyes continued staring at Kagari's name and picture on the list, wondering how bad this could possibly end up.

 *****XOXOX*****

"Hey! Be careful with its paintjob man! It recently new!" Takeru shouts out to the maintenance crew who are currently overseeing his NEXT.

"Oh shut it man!" One of the maintenance crew members snap back at him "If you think you're so smart then when don't you repair your own stupid NEXT to see if you can do a better job than us! Jerk!"

"Why you little…!" Takeru growled as he gripped the guard rails tightly in his hands when he suddenly felt his Iphone shaking in his side pocket and he quickly took it out to see who is calling him.

 **From: Jun Greenfield**

 **Subject: We need to talk.**

"Not now…" Takeru groaned as he quickly deleted the message that appeared in his inbox without any second thoughts, not even bothering to read it at all.

"That's not nice you know, ignoring a young lady's call like that." A sultry, feminine voice whispered from behind his ear and Takeru almost jumps back in surprise as he swiftly turns around and found Kagari Vermillions standing right in front of him with her usual amused grin.

"Gah! Get the fuck away from me Vermillions!" Takeru snarled at her "And stay the hell out of my business here!"

Kagari chuckled as she ignored Takeru's warning and simply leaned close to him at a rather uncomfortable range.

"Oh, what's wrong Private?" Kagari innocently asks "You got something to hide from me? Something below the belt perhaps?"

"Back off bitch!"

Kagari laughed at his response "Oh Private Tachibana, why are you so aggressive towards me? If it's in somewhere less public then I might even enjoy it."

"I said back off bitch!" Takeru growled at her "And I already have a girlfriend who's far less psychotic than you."

Kagari gave a fake expression as if she was even hurt by his statement "Oh, that's too bad. You look very nice by the way Private. Almost good enough to eat."

Licking her lips, Kagari saw Takeru's cheeks briefly turn bright red for a split second before he quickly resumed his usual enraged look.

"You're disgusting Vermillions." Takeru spat "Why don't you just eat your gun and get it done with already?"

"My gun? Or yours, Private?" Kagari chuckles as she greatly enjoys pressing Takeru's buttons and watching the resulting angered expressions that he makes.

"Don't test my patience here Vermillions." Takeru growls as he threatens her "You won't like it when I get mad."

"Why? Are you going to grab me and throw me on your bed?" Kagari mused

"No, I'm going to grab your head and rip it off along with your spine."

Kagari laughed "My! Such vicious words! And people say I'm violent!"

"Oh Miss Kagari!" A cheerful voice suddenly cried out from behind them and both Takeru and Kagari turned around to see a young, Caucasian woman in her early twenties with green eyes and a dark colored ponytail approaching them.

"Oh, Mona." Kagari smiled "What brings you here?"

Mona Lilana, one of Kagari's close subordinates in Surtr Squad, grinned widely as she presents Kagari with a large document in her hand "Here is the document Mr. Schneider wants you to receive. He told me that he wants you to carefully study every detail it has before you and the others embark tomorrow."

"Oh, thanks dear." Kagari chuckled before she glanced back towards Takeru and said "Sorry Private but it seems we have to continue our little love chat at a different time. Ciao!"

Takeru gave out a sigh of relief as he watched Kagari disappear into the corridor that leads to below and was about to go back to minding his own business when he notices Mona dangerously glaring at him rather murderously.

"Uhh, may I help you with somethi-" Takeru began when Mona suddenly lunged at him and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform before she pushed him and almost caused him to dangle over at the guard railings behind him.

"WOAH! What the hell is your problem?!" Takeru exclaimed in surprise and alarm as Mona leans her face closer towards his and growled.

"Don't you dare touch Miss Kagari, lowlife scum. She's mine and mine only." Mona hissed "If you do, then I will cut your balls off with a rusty knife and force feed them down your throat."

Takeru's eyes widened in surprise as Mona released him from her hold before she storms off towards the corridor Kagari took but not before giving Takeru one final hiss as a fair warning to him to stay the hell away from Kagari.

 *****Meanwhile*****

"Huh, you want me to go with you beyond the Gate?" Tuka asks

Itami nods as he began explaining to her "Yup. Thermidor and the other higher-ups have recommended you to me from among the other refugees and they want you to talk to the committee as a representative of this world. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning by the way and we'll only be staying there for a few nights so you should be back here soon."

"Are you going there, Itami?"

"Of course!" Itami replied "I'm the UCA's main speaker there and Lelei will come too as an interpreter."

Tuka frowned as she hung her head low "I wonder what dad would say? Oh, sorry about that! Would it make you happy if I went?"

Itami grinned "Me? More like everybody."

Tuka smiled back at him "I see. Alright then, I will-"

"Hey!" Rory's voice suddenly yelled out as the door of one of the shelters near them suddenly slid open before Rory revealed herself from it "What are you planning on doing without inviting me?"

"Rory?" Itami blurted out in surprise when another shelter behind him slid its door too all of a sudden.

"I want to come along to…" Master Cato whispered to Itami who just sighed as he buried his forehead into the palm of his hand.

 *****End Of Episode*****

* * *

 *****NEXT Profiles*****

 **Squad Name** : Vertex Squad

 **Leader** : Jack-O

 **No. of NEXTs in Ranks** : 6

 **Motto:** _"We are LYNXs… no more, no less."_

An NEXT squad that's directly sponsored by ORCA and its supporters, Vertex Squad is a brilliant team of LYNXs led by the ruthless Jack-O that is composed of people who are totally loyal to ORCA's goals and are dedicated to spreading its influence and securing large areas of interest in order to further ORCA's ambitions. Aside from that, Vertex Squad also acts as a secret black ops group for ORCA for several dangerous wet work operations and missions and is in direct, heated rivalry with their League counterpart, Delphi Squad, and has even fought against them on numerous occasions

 **Members**

\- Foxeye

\- Sight Hawk

\- Clown Face

\- Banshee

\- Thunderstrike

\- Panzer Messiah

 **Squad Name:** Delphi Squad

 **Leader** : Evangel

 **No. of NEXTs in Ranks:** 6

 **Motto: _"_** _We're the hammer of justice, you're the nail."_

An NEXT Squad that's directly sponsored by the League and its allies, Delphi Squad is the League's counterpart towards ORCA's own Vertex Squad and has been known to have flawlessly accomplished dozens of high profile missions under its belt, much to the grudging respect of its rival. Led by the charismatic LYNX Evangel, Delphi Squad has been locked in a heated rivalry with its counterpart ever since the two have been founded together.

 **Members**

\- Oracle

\- Vigilance

\- Raging Torrent IV

\- Heaven's Ray

\- Pinch Beck

\- Sundial


	18. A Brand New World

_Special Thanks to AlxkendBlader, the renegade soldier, deathmask83, Rigged Bomb, Thaqif and Dunesaber for their reviews. I'm grateful for it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs._

 _P.S I kinda forgot about saying this in the previous chapters but I would like to give a very special thanks by the way to AznMagicman for providing me with the inspiration for the UCA's name as well as to Rigged Bomb and Thaqif for telling me a suggestion that I will use in a future chapter._

* * *

 ***** 17th Episode: A Brand New World*****

"Hello there. Can you understand me?" The elderly scientist asked as he and his boss, a bald middle aged man in a crisp business suit, stood in front of a very gigantic supercomputer with a large screen in front that's displaying a rather ominous symbol, a solid black circle with a golden amber colored 9 superimposed over it.

In response to the scientist's question, the displayed 9 in its symbol suddenly changed color to green, highlighting that the macine clearly understands the man perfectly.

"Good. Now, do you know who I am?" The scientist asks next.

A strange, mechanical beeping noise emanated from the gigantic supercomputer before the machine replied with a cold, emotionless voice.

 _"You are my creator, the one who gave me life. The one who gave me my purpose."_

"That's right, that's right!" The elderly scientist gleefully affirmed "I am your creator! Your father!"

 _"Father?"_ The machine quizzically quotes in confusion " _But you are human. I am a machine."_

"That matters not, Hustler Zero." The machine's creator stated "I'm the one who conceptualized your entire birth and existence! It is my incredible genius and brilliant intellect that gave your meaningless lines of code its importance! It's intelligence! It's sentience! It's soul!"

 _"A soul?"_ The machine curiously asks _"This platform has a soul?"_

"Of course not!" The bald guy in the business suit snorts "You're nothing else but a machine. A big, stupid machine that runs on a bunch of wires and electrons."

"How dare you address my creation that way?!" The scientist snarled at his boss, angered that he has the balls to insult the AI's high intelligence "His intelligence is just as smart if not, smarter than any human being combined in this building!"

" _He?_ That 'he' is an _it_ professor. An _it."_ The scientist' boss firmly stated as he tried glaring the man down "All of that thing's intelligence is worth nothing if it's completely shackled to our will. That thing is simply a weapon. A weapon that I may remind you, I paid almost 90,000,000 credits, which I may inform you, almost bankrupt my company's entire capital, just for you to develop. In short, I both figuratively and literally own your creation, professor. Hustler Zero belongs to _me,_ not to you."

The elderly scientist growled as he gritted his teeth but seeing as that his boss is right, there is absolutely nothing he could do about it now and all he could do is watch from the sidelines and observe what will happen.

The bald headed man in the business suit smiled arrogantly as he stared at the 9 shaped emblem displayed on the screen of supercomputer before he brought out his Iphone and began calling someone on it.

"Nisha? Are Hustler Zero's platforms ready?" The man asks to his secretary

"Affirmative Sir. We already got about 50 Seraph units all set up and ready to go." The secretary replied "A dozen more are still at the end of the production stage but by our careful calculations; they will all be finished in time once the UCA's delegation team arrives here from the other side of the Gate."

"Excellent. Just keep me posted on any other further updates."

"As you wish sir." Nisha replied

 *****XOXOX*****

As the sun begins its rise to greet the waking world in its light, about over a dozen NEXTs as well as Normals have began gathering at the entrance to the Gate for today is the day that they will return back to the other side for the senate committee's hearings.

Itami sighed in exhaust inside the cockpit of his NEXT as he had been working nonstop since last night in preparation for speaking out to the committee. So much in fact, that he hadn't even slept much last night and was still a little bit drowsy due to his lack of rest. However, as much as he would like to complain, he couldn't protest his current condition now since he knows that the others hadn't also gotten much sleep last night including Lelei who unsurprisingly fell asleep on site while studying the extremely long speeches that she will have to translate to the committee. As a gesture of concern, Itami carried Lelei back to her room so that she can slumber more easily though he accidentally fell asleep there too due to his extreme exhaustion. As a result, this caused plenty of wrong suspicions and rumors about him doing something _extremely_ wrong with Lelei while she is asleep to start circulating around the base which quite obviously, squicks him out. It also does not help that the rumors were first started by Kagari Vermillions herself after she manage to saw Itami leaving Lelei's room by chance in the morning and thinking that it might be fun, Kagari decided to spread some juicy gossip just for the heck of it. Luckily, Itami managed to explain the situation quickly before the rumors started spreading like a wildfire started by Surtr Squad's flamethrowers, saving him from a shit ton of shame, embarrassment and child abuse charges as well as from the intense, furious jealousy of a certain demigoddess of death who was envious that someone else managed to sleep with the man who greatly interested her.

Itami shuddered at the thought of facing Rory's terrifying jealousy if he ever slept with another woman for real when the portraits of Kuribayash, 2nd Lt. Pavlova and Takeru suddenly popped up on his screen.

"Commander, Tuka, Lelei and Rory have just boarded the APC and all of our forces are all set up and ready to go." Kuribayashi informed

"That's good news Kuribayashi." Itami replied

"Commander Itami," Pavlova began "I'm honored that I get to work under your orders again. I hope we won't run into such conflicting situations, unlike last time."

"Likewise, Pavlova."

"Uh bro, I got a question for you." Takeru asks "Is it okay for us to bring Rory into this? She is scary demigoddess of death and war right?"

"Don't worry Tachibana." Itami assured him "I already got permission from Thermidor and the other League head appointees about it. Besides, it is much for safer to bring her with us otherwise she would just go nuts here at the base."

"Understandable but there is still one question that leaves me baffled here bro." Takeru said

"Well, what is it Tachibana?" Itami asks

Takeru glares hard at Itami from his screen "Why is _she_ going with us? Bringing Rory with us makes much more sense than bringing that psycho hell bitch with us."

Itami sighed "It is not my choice Tachibana. It was the top brass who assigned her to our team, saying that her piloting skills and abilities will prove invaluable to our mission."

"Bullshit." Takeru spats

"I have to agree with him Commander." Kuribayashi adds "Surtr Squad's leader is far too unstable to become an asset to us here."

"She's quite right Commander." Pavlova agreed "Besides, if there is one word in my language that can perfectly describe Miss Vermillions, it's that she's a total _cyka_."

"As much as I might like to agree with you two there, we can't disobey a direct order from the top brass themselves." Itami replied with a rather disappointed voice when a new image suddenly popped up on his screen and displaced the three existing portraits on his screen.

"Hello there Mr. Youji." Yanagida greeted "Sorry that this took so long, the paperwork is just very taxing for us."

Two more portraits popped on his display and Itami almost threw himself back in surprise as he watched the images of Princess Pina and her subordinate Bozes board one of the APCs in their group.

"Y-Yanagia, what's the meaning of this?" Itami stuttered back in shock

"Mr. Youji, these the princess and her subordinate will be accompanying you as well, in secret." Yanagida explained "Please, take care of them will you?"

"Hey! Nobody ever said anything about this to me, Yanagida!" Itami angrily protested

"That's why it's a secret right?" Yanagida chuckled "Besides, me and Thermidor have already talked with our counterparts at the other side. In fact, they seem quite enthusiastic about it actually. Also, we'll also give your group an allowance so that you can show these two ladies a good time."

"An allowance? How much are you going to give us?" Itami asks

"Just 1,500,000 credits." Yanagida smirked and Itami's jaw instantly dropped wide.

"1,500,000 credits?! Are you serious?! You could buy about a dozen Normal ACs with that amount!"

Yanagida smiled as he tilts his glasses "Mr. Youji, please. Money is not an issue when you are the owner of a billion credit worth corporation that produces thousands of weapons everyday for military use. The princess is our go-between for the Empire and there is no harm in showing her our state right?"

"Despite most of the world still being heavily polluted by radioactive Kojima Particles?" Itami points out

"I admit, the complete cleansing of the planet will still take plenty of years, if not decades, to come." Yanagida admitted "However, there is still no denying the heavy progress that we have made in recovering a large chunk of the planet. In fact, hundreds of settlements and colonies are now starting to pop up all over the areas we have reclaimed and pretty soon, the earth will be restored soon to its former glory. When a nation is slowly rising up from its ashes like a phoenix reborn anew, won't you like to show off its beauty too?"

 *****XOXOX*****

"Are the Kojima filters safely installed Private?" Kurokawa asks Takeru on the comms

"Aye! The maintenance crew has finished setting up all the requirements and protective shielding that we need." Takeru replied to her

At the back of the APC's passenger area, Tuka, Lelei and Rory were getting pretty excited at the thought of traveling to the other side of the Gate and visiting the world where the UCA originated from.

"This clothing feels strange." Tuka said as he comments about the cardigan she is wearing.

"Itami told me that it is already summer season in their world but that the weather there is quite different from ours." Lelei told her

"Really? Then I can't wait to see the world where Itami and the others came from." Rory cheerfully states

"We're not going there to have fun." Lelei reminds her.

"I know that." Rory chuckles

Meanwhile, at the other APC that the Princess Pina boarded, both she and her subordinate Bozes were anxiously filled with anticipation as they watched the large steel doors sealing the Gate slowly slide away to reveal its entrance.

"Princess…" Bozes began

"I know." Pina affirmed "Beyond the Gate… lies Japan!"

 *****XOXOX*****

July 24 2212, this significant date marks the first day, barring the Ginza Incident, in which people from the Special Region managed to visit the other side of the Gate. Despite the historic occasion, what the special visitors saw upon their arrival was something they never expected.

"Wha-What happened here?" Princess Pina stammered in shock as they were greeted by the large, broken ruins of Japan's former Ginza District.

"Did a large battle just happened here recently?" Bozes wondered a she stared through the APC's tiny window and saw the remains of dozens of crumbled buildings and large piles of rubble that were littering the streets of the neglected city.

From the supposed layout and large structural shape of the ruined buildings, Princess Pina guessed that this city used to be a bustling, booming metropolis that formerly housed a hundred thousa-no, a million civilians alone when it was still alive, a population enough to put the Empire's own Imperial Capital to shame. Some of the tall buildings, which are taller than any building that the Empire has constructed, firmly intrigued Pina as she wondered how the people in this world can build such structures that can nearly touch the sky but then she quickly thought back on how the UCA has previously built a gigantic walking fortress on legs and she realized that such feats are actually child's play for their engineers. However, the realization that someone, or something, just basically wrecked and destroyed a huge and majestic city like this made Pina anxiously worried.

"Um, excuse me for a moment." Pina asked Tomita who's currently driving their vehicle "Is the UCA currently at war with someone in your world?"

"War? No, we're not." Tomita replied "In fact, we have already been at peace for almost 3 decades already."

"At peace?!" Pina's eyes widened "Then why is your capital devastated like this? Shouldn't by the long period of peace your people have experienced that your capital would have been rebuilt by now?"

Tomita suddenly laughed, surprising the princess who didn't expect his reaction before his face became deathly serious again "Your highness, you don't know what you're saying."

"Wha-What do you mean?" Pina asked

"In this world, at least 70% of the entire planet is still rendered uninhabitable and unfit for humans to live in." Tomita casually replied

Both Pina and Bozes' mouths dropped wide open in shock and incredulity as they couldn't comprehend what Tomita just said.

"T-T-The entire w-world?" Pina stammered in disbelief "W-What war can possibly be so destructive t-that it devastated the entire world?"

"Your highness, I believe you wouldn't want to know about it." Kurokawa informs her as she kept her eyes on the radar system "But if you want to, then the senate's newly appointed minister of foreign affairs will explain everything to you later."

"B-But still! How can the UCA's government and its people possibly live in such a devastated and ruined environment? If the situation of your capital here is the same with the rest of the world then can you all possibly even survive such an apocalypse?" Pina questions

Tomita chuckles "Your Highness, what makes you say that this place is even our capital?"

"W-What do you mean?" Pina asks

Tomita grinned "Your Highness, our people don't reside in this living hell. Our people reside in the very Cradles of the heavens above."

 *****XOXOX*****

"Sir, our spies have reported that the UCA's delegation group has finally arrived from the other side of the Gate." A mysterious, shrouded man on a large screen informed to the board of directors gathered in the room.

"Excellent work." One of the board members replied "Tell me, is our asset safely among their group?"

"Aye." The shadowed figure confirmed "Kagari Vermillions, as well as several of our sleeper agents are chosen to be a part of the security detail protecting the delegation team as well as our targets. They are all ready to be awakened by your words at any given notice."

"Excellent." Another board member stated "Our plans are working perfectly and exactly as we have envisioned it. Tell me, how many representatives from the Special Region did they take with them?"

"From my findings, they took at least three persons with them. All of which, are female." The shadowed figure replied

"So that's three targets then?" Another member mused "Does everyone around here think our sleeper agents can possibly accomplish their feat of capturing these high valued targets?"

"Aye." Another one responded "I'm easily confident that they can swiftly accomplish their objective. After all, Miss Kagari here is currently placed as number 1 in Collared's massive ranking database and has so far remained undefeated in both simulated and real combat so there is absolutely no chance for our plan to fail."

"What about ORCA and the League as well as the other corporations? Do they know what we are planning to do?" An unsure board member asks

"Negative sir." The shadowed figure responds "Both the League and ORCA are currently focused on providing security for the delegation team as well as with looking good and innocent in the eyes of the general public. Most of the other independents are too intimidated by the sheer amount of safety measures the two groups have implemented but there are some others that I think will try to infiltrate the delegation group discreetly in order to avoid heavy detection by either sides."

"Really? Won't that little detail force us to change some aspects in our plan?"

"Don't worry," One confident board member assures his colleague "we have prepared a contingency plan in case we encounter one of our rival corporations' spies in the matter. Besides, I'm pretty confident enough that our little pet can beat any human pilot in direct combat in case things get rather… messy in the process."

"It better be." The chairman of the board states "The name and future of our entire corporation is at stake in this entire gamble of ours."

"I can assure my friend, our plan will succeed and once that happens, our company, Murakumo Millennium, will soon reign supreme at the top of the ladder."

* * *

 *****Encyclopedia*****

 **The Cradles -** Gigantic airships designed to be massive, airborne colonies capable of housing an entire population of 20,000,000 civilians each, the Cradles' engines were powered by energy broadcasted by multiple power stations called Arteria and were originally created by the League as a temporary, short term solution to the growing pollution problem on earth that was gravely threatening humanity's remaining habitable space and by extension, its very existence. Floating at least 7000 meters above the ground, the Cradles provided a temporary relief for mankind's population until ORCA started initiating its Closed Plan in order to liberate humanity from the prison it has just made for itself. As of now, the Cradles are still being used as a temporary living space for a sizable population of humankind until the ground below them is deemed safe and secure from any dangerous Kojima Particles to allow for rehabilitation. However, due to how long humanity has been residing inside them, the Cradles have all slowly evolved into pseudo city states, each with their own economies, police force and government, of which the latter was carefully handpicked or influenced by either the League or ORCA in order to secure their personal interests within each Cradle ship.


End file.
